


Star Wars: The Galaxy is Counting Stars

by Hitaka5Ever



Series: Star Wars: The Beast Awakens [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: (brutal) murder, Conspiracies, M/M, Multi, NSFW, Other, Porn, Violence, Werewolves, Wolves, hitaka, kytaka (friendship), mikylux (friendship), phastaka (friendship)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:18:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 66,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8451475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitaka5Ever/pseuds/Hitaka5Ever
Summary: Hux and Mitaka have been separated, their bond weakening into darkness from being so far apart. With the First Order licking their wounds and the Resistance imprisoning many of the First Order’s numbers, the galaxy’s Fate is up in the air. But what happens when Mitaka learns of what being a werewolf truly means? Will this newly found information help the First Order, or cause devastating turmoil for the entire universe to come?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tags may be added over time. Also, in the beginning, locations will switch back and forth almost every chapter, so bare with me lol
> 
> PS: I whipped up a Q&A for book 1 and will do so again for this book after it's done, as well as for book 3. You can read book 1's Q&A here: http://hitaka5ever.tumblr.com/post/156064778317/

Three hours. It had been three hours since the destruction of Starkiller Base. The First Order didn’t know it, but the Resistance was celebrating, despite the hardships their side had gone through, like the death of Han Solo and Finn terribly injured and in a coma. They also wanted to celebrate their victory and gaining the final piece of the map that they needed in order to find Luke Skywalker. In just a few hours, Rey would be flying off to fulfill her destiny.

The Finalizer had moved half a day away from the destroyed snowy planet to distance themselves from any Resistance and Republic base to protect their depleted organization. Not everyone had made it off Starkiller and many were captured and thrown in prisons on surrounding Resistance planets. The Finalizer had received some damage and there were a few sections that had been obliterated or badly damaged. They had been closed off due to special protocols to keep the oxygen-less air from filling the entire ship and killing everyone on board. The First Order didn’t know what to do without their General to lead and order them around except escape to hide from the opposition. No one had heard from Kylo Ren either.

In the Finalizer’s main control hub, a technician was keeping an eye on his radar screen when a dot appeared along with a bleep. Blinking, he waited for the signal to be reached again before doing anything. After the dot appeared again, he dragged his chair to his keyboard that was to the left and then typed in commands hastily.

“Captain Keaton! Our scanners are picking up a ship!”

A portly man with a bushy mustache joined the technician to look at the radar. He saw the dot inching closer to the center. “Put a live feed up on screen.”

“Yes sir!”

Keaton looked up and saw a hovering screen appear from the back of the console and then crackle to life. The officer typed in more commands so that a picture appeared on the screen. He then had to zoom in the camera a few thousand meters to get a clear image of a small ship coming.

“Krammer, make contact with the ship and see who it is!”

“Yes Captain!”

There was a long pause of nothing but typing and bated breath from everyone inside. A hailing signal was sent out and they waited in anticipation for a few minutes for it to reach the ship. Then, on one of the large windows, a partly static image appeared, revealing who was flying the aircraft. Relief washed over everyone when they saw General Hux’s tired face.

“General Hux, it is Captain Keaton! Are you alright?!”

There was a two-second delay, but then Hux answered, “Yes, I am fine. We should be arriving at the Finalizer in a few minutes.”

“We, sir?”

“I have Kylo Ren on board. He is injured, so I will need a medical team to escort him to the hospital wing.”

“We will be waiting for your arrival, sir. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, but I will ask for reports on our number of fatalities, casualties, and missing personnel as soon as possible after I have returned.”

“We are performing a sweep as we speak, sir.”

“Is First Lieutenant Mitaka on board?”

There was a long pause, but there was no response. Eyes narrowing, Hux ended the call without warning, leaving the control hub personnel speechless. After a while, Keaton turned to a low-rank officer.

“Go to the hospital wing and have whichever doctor is available make a space for Knight Ren.”

“Yes sir!”

The officer ran out while Keaton turned to another officer. “Find out just how many of our own are missing, injured, and dead so that General Hux has a full report upon his return.”

“Yes sir.”

The petty officer moved to his station and began to search for any and all superior officer signals within a 4800 kilometer radius of the Finalizer and making a list.

Meanwhile, Hux’s ship soon arrived and entered the boarding dock, touching down gently before turning off. Workers came rushing over. Seconds later, the hatch opened, revealing Hux carrying Ren beside him with his arm around his shoulders. A rolling gurney was rushed up to them as the duo took a few steps away from the ship. Hux passed Ren off to the medics and quickly spoke to another, saying that he was fine and didn’t need medical attention.

“Just take care of Knight Ren, lest Supreme Ruler Snoke have all our heads.”

“Yes sir.”

The medic joined the others as they began to roll the laid-out Kylo Ren towards the hospital wing.

“I will check on you later, Ren!” Hux waited a few seconds before turning to a Captain that was approaching. “Where is Captain Phasma?”

The Captain stopped a few feet away. “As of now, we do not know. A list of all missing, injured, and fatalities is being made as soon as we locate their signals.”

“Good. Send out a blanketed message to everyone conducting these searches that one of them needs to contact me via datapad once they are done,” Hux explained. “In the meantime, I have my own duties to perform.”

“Of course sir.”

“Dismissed.” With a nod, the Captain left, leaving Hux with the ship inspectors. He stared at the floor with narrowed eyes, feeling a hollow pit heavy in his stomach. Worry filled him when he couldn’t sense Mitaka’s presence anywhere on board. _‘Where in the galactic hell are you, Dopheld?’_

Forcing air out of his nose, Hux headed further into the ship, needing to go to his office to grab his datapad. On the way, he passed by many tired and exhausted First Order members just milling around to lick their wounds. Several asked Hux if he was alright and if he knew anything important he could share, but he simply shook his head without any explanation. Minutes later, he arrived at his office, which was locked. He used the unlock code to get in, and then slammed his hand on the lock button to the right of the closing door. Going to his desk, he found his datapad where he had left it, picked it up, and then turned around, sitting on the floor with his back against the desk. He blinked at the blank screen for several seconds before he turned it on, input his password, and then opened his messaging application.

Hux hesitated, his finger poised above the L on the keyboard. He swallowed hard before typing in Lt_D_Mi, then it auto-filled the rest for him. For a long time, he wasn’t sure what message to type, but he wanted to make it sound calm and casual rather than with worry or authority. With a deep breath, he started typing at a slow pace, not wanting to get his hopes up too soon. Once it was complete, he pressed Send, a terribly heavy feeling filling his entire body.

 **Gen_Hux:** Mitaka, it’s me, Hux. Please tell me you are alright.

Hux waited in anticipation for something to happen. A numb feeling suddenly spread through his entire body when a pre-recorded message appeared underneath.

_Your message could not be sent to the recipient. Please try again._

Folding his body up in the middle, Hux closed his eyes while pressing the datapad to his forehead. He sat there in that position for a while, looking and acting as if he was perfectly calm, but then the skin around his eyes crinkled badly and his lips parted a few centimeters to reveal clenched teeth. His hands on the datapad tightened and he pressed it harder to his forehead. Hux hated jumping to conclusions, but if Mitaka’s signal couldn’t be reached this way, then he was too far away, or worse.

“Grgh, Mitaka…”

* * *

A few more hours passed and things started to wind down a bit. The full list of First Order members that were accounted and unaccounted for had been sent out to everyone with a datapad and others would have to find out from superior officers what the status of their friends and comrades and sometimes family members was. Hux had skimmed the list himself, but Mitaka was listed under the “Missing/Unknown” tab. In his frustration, he had thrown the datapad across the room, smashing half of it against the wall. He was now going to see Ren in the hospital, now that his wounds would be cleaned and wrapped in bacta wraps. When he arrived and asked a medic where Ren was, he looked to the place where the medic indicated. With a nod and a few seconds pat to his shoulder, Hux approached the medical bed, his face blank to hide how he was truly feeling to the Knight.

“Ren, may we talk?”

Turning his head, Ren saw him approaching, but Hux’s blank face couldn’t fool him. “Mitaka is missing, isn’t he?”

Stopping and helping put the bed in a sitting up position, Hux nodded. “His signal could not be found.”

“I’m sure he’s alright,” Ren tried to reassure him. “He’s intelligent and resilient.”

“…How are you injuries?”

Ren placed a hand to his wrapped cheek. “They’re numb and not as bad as I thought.”

“Good.”

“What about you? Besides being upset about Mitaka, you’re fine, right?”

Hux nodded. “For the most part. I’m just exhausted.”

Ren started to say something, but as Hux breathed, he caught a familiar scent that had a hint of deception and secrecy to it.

“—Going to talk to Supreme Ruler Snoke soon to-? Hux?”

Ren blinked as he saw Hux looking back over his shoulder, not paying any attention to him. For a split second, Hux saw Dr. Ekels leaving the hospital with a despicable expression on his face.

Without looking back at Ren, he said, “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

Ren blinked after him in confusion. Leaving the hospital, Hux followed Ekels at a considerable distance, awaiting an empty corridor before revealing himself to the doctor. A terrible feeling about Ekels kept triggering in his brain. There was just a disturbing air about him that made the hairs on the back of Hux’s neck rise, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Finally reaching a dead silent corridor, Hux picked up his pace, sniffing to make sure they were indeed the only two there. When Ekels was almost to an unknown room, Hux rushed up before he noticed anything, and then shoved him hard towards the door, which opened, revealing a storage room. A confused noise came from Ekels’ mouth as he regained his balance, and then he looked up to see who had shoved him. His eyes widened when Hux shoved him up against of bunch of stacked boxes with a look of suspicion on his face.

“Ge-General! What’s wrong?!”

Gritting his teeth, Hux growled dangerously at him. “Where is he?! What have you done to him?!”

Ekels looked confused. “Who? I don’t know what you’re-HRRK!”

Swiftly, Hux snatched the front of Ekels’ neck, blocking off his airways as he now looked enraged at him. “Don’t be coy with me! Mitaka! _Where is he_?!” Ekels clawed at Hux to get him to let go, but the grip on his arm tightened to cause terrible pain as Hux’s claws dug into his flesh. “What have you done to Mitaka?! His scent is _all over_ _you_!”

Hux lessened his grip on the doctor’s neck to allow him to speak. Ekels’ face conveyed worry and confusion for a few more seconds, but then he sneered.

“Sorry, Hux, but he is _long_ gone now-”

Ekels cried out after Hux clawed him in the face to draw blood. “ _WHERE IS HE?!_ ”

As Ekels looked back at Hux, he saw the wild look in his icy blue eyes and fangs protruded from his lips. Ekels could tell that the beast was trying to break through, but Hux had a bit more control than that. His patience was running very thin though. Ekels growled weakly at him as the grip around his neck tightened again.

“D-Dopheld is-”

Hux smacked him in the face again. “Lieutenant Mitaka!”

“Y-Yes, yes, Lieutenant Mitaka! I g-gave him…to a Resistance ship! I t-told them he helped p-power the Starkiller and that he sh-should be executed-HRK!”

Hux’s grip on Ekel’s throat tightened again, this time his claws piercing his flesh, but it missed any main arteries and blood vessels. “How dare you! How fucking _dare you_! What did you do?! How did you capture him?! You are _weak_! You are _nothing_! You couldn’t possibly have-!”

Hux’s eyes widened slightly when he heard and felt Ekels chuckle darkly against his hand.

“K-Killed…Thaniss…front of h-him… He…f-freaked, I used…u-used it to-” A terrible buzzing numbness filled Hux as he got the gist of it. The grip around Ekels’ neck weakened as he began to shut down. This allowed Dr. Ekels to talk more freely. “D-Dopheld is _gone_ , your _highness_. He is with the R-Resistance now. And you will _never_ find him.”

“…Why?”

A cruel look appeared on Ekels’ face at the soft question from a slightly quivering voice. “Consider it p-payback for st-stealing my _business_ and _pleasure_ from _me_ …” There was a long, tense pause after this confession. Gradually, Hux’s grips diminished and he let Ekels go, stepping back a step to stare at the floor with despair in his eyes. Smirking, Ekels straightened out his doctor’s coat and wiped the blood away from the punctures. “Your precious little _slut_ would still be here if you hadn’t interfered with my _practice_ , Hux. You only have yourself to blame for Dopheld’s _death_ -!”

Those words barely made it out of Dr. Ekels’ vile mouth before Hux looked back up with murderous intent in his wild eyes, a deep, gravelly sounding growl coming from his mouth. Instantly, he lifted his right clawed hand and brought it swiftly down across Ekels’ throat. The doctor’s mouth dropped open at the last second as blood sprayed everywhere from having his entire neck and throat gutted open. Hux had turned his body to the side a few inches after the devastating slash attack, hearing and feeling Ekels slide sideways off the boxes and collapse, bleeding out in a painful death. A thick pool of blood spilled out and onto the floor, but Hux didn’t care. His brow was furrowed over his narrowed eyes as he stared off into space, his heart beating hard in his chest at what was just confessed to him. Soon, his clawed hands curled into tight fists and Hux closed his eyes, wishing it all away…

* * *

The hospital door slid open. From his bed halfway across the room, Ren looked up, seeing Hux approaching him with his head down to hide his face. The Knight sat up a little straighter, blinking in confusion.

“What did you storm off for? It was like you had seen a ghost…” Ren trailed off as Hux reached the bed, placing his hands on the edge. He still kept his face hidden, giving Ren a bad feeling. He swallowed. “Hux, is everything ok-?”

“He’s gone.”

Ren blinked at the soft tone. “Gone…? Who? Mitaka?” Hux’s hands gripped the bed tighter. It was faint, but Ren could see his shoulders begin to shake. “Hux, what happened to Mit-?”

Ren’s eyes widened as Hux finally looked up, his face screwed up in agony as heavy tears finally broke free from his eyes and streamed heavily down his face. “Mitaka! M-Mitaka was t-taken… T-Taken to the Resistance!” Unable to stay standing anymore, Hux fell heavily to his knees and pressed his forehead into the mattress. His teeth were clenched tightly together as he tried to hold back a cry of despair. “Th-They’re going to kill him! They’re going to _kill Mitaka_!”

A heavy feeling formed in Ren’s chest as Hux began to sob and cry uncontrollably against the bed. All around them, personnel and patients were looking at them, wondering what was going on. After Ren shot them a quick glare, they jerked their gazes away, pretending they didn’t know anything. Looking back at the sobbing Hux, the Knight’s face turned somber before he reached for his head and gently laid his whole hand on it.

“I am so sorry, Hux…”

Hux dissolved into a huge mess as he continued to sob and cry and shake. As he thought back to Mitaka and how this all began and was ending, his spirit began to gradually snuff out, until he felt that there was nothing left…

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We switch to Mitaka's location in the beginning of this chapter, then it'll switch back to Hux's

_Thanisson. Thanisson? Thanisson?!_

_MITAKA!_

_THANISSOOOOOOOOOOOON!_

_GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!_

_HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUX!_

Dark brown eyes snapped open, the pupil contracting immediately. On the hard floor of a single-occupant containment unit lay Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka. As his eyes returned to normal, he closed them tightly as he began to move his arms back, placing his hands down. As he tried to push up, a pain filled the back of his head and he growled from it. Placing one hand on the back, he got up on his knees and then sat down, rubbing the very tender spot. It felt as if he had been hit by a cement block that had cracks and broken pieces embedded in it. Mitaka took a few deep breaths as he got dizzy, trying to figure out what had happened. He only got bits and pieces of memories, but he remembered helping Thanisson out of some rubble, they had been about to leave, but had to be separated because of something, and then Mitaka saw someone or some thing walk behind Thanisson and then-

Mitaka’s eyes widened and began to fill with tears. In his mind, he saw Thanisson begin to fall to the floor after his neck had been twisted sharply. As he remembered lifting his gaze higher, Mitaka saw the wicked grin of the petty officer’s murderer, so fresh in his mind that it took his breath away. Mitaka began to have trouble breathing and he hunched forward, watching his tears drip to the floor. His mouth was instantly dry and he felt very sick to his stomach.

After a few agonizing seconds, Mitaka inhaled sharply, getting fresh air in his lungs and he swallowed hard. He then coughed a few times to try getting moisture in his mouth. He was feeling far better by the time the cell door was unlocked and it opened.

“…It’s about time you woke up, First Order scumbag.”

Swallowing again, Mitaka sat up and lifted his head, looking at a prison guard for the Resistance. “Wh-Where…a-am I?”

“In a Resistance prison carrier,” the guard said as he approached Mitaka, carrying metal cuffs for his wrists. “Don’t worry, they won’t kill you right away. Democracy and a fair trial and all that bullshit. Hands.” Mitaka didn’t move and his face remained blank. “Hurry the kriff up you bastard, we’re on a Resistance prison base and we have to gather all of you scumbags up to be loaded off the carrier.” Deciding just to play it safe right now, Mitaka slowly lifted his hands, spaced a foot apart. Tching, the guard clamped the cuffs around his wrists and they instantly melded together at the ends. The guard grabbed Mitaka’s shoulder painfully, yanking him to his feet. “Let’s go, ya piece of shit.”

Keeping his eyes down, Mitaka allowed the guard to lead him out of his cell where a dozen or so other prisoners were waiting. Mitaka was shoved into a spot in line and they waited for a few more to come out of their own cells before they were escorted through a tight corridor. It didn’t take long to be walking off the carrier and onto a rocky and dry terrain. Mitaka glanced around, noting the cliffs surrounding them. Across from the carrier was a gigantic and wide building structure with armed guards and Resistance officials that were waiting for the prisoners. What was going to happen to the prisoners now that they were there?

The line of prisoners were turned horizontally once they reached the Resistance platoon. Mitaka was about in the middle and he had this sinking feeling that bad luck would be following him no matter where they put him. Oh if only these men and women knew what he was, they would be begging to be released or transferred someplace else.

After a quick introduction on why they were there and what would be happening to them (after interrogations and gathering a bit of background information from each prisoner) they were escorted inside the structure, which was very spacious, and were being separated into individual interrogation rooms. There was plenty for each prisoner to be questioned at the same time. Once inside a room, Mitaka was shoved into a hard metal chair and his handcuffs were removed by the push of a button. He was then left alone for who knows how long before his interrogator showed up, sitting opposite him. Mitaka had only seen a summary file and a photo on his datapad, that had been lost somewhere along the way, of this older woman, so the fact she was here for him was interesting.

“I am going to get straight to the point here, Lieutenant. My name is-”

“General Leia Organa, I am aware,” Mitaka interrupted.

“Then you know why you are being interrogated by me and not someone else,” former Princess Leia said.

“And what exactly am I being charged with, besides aiding the First Order?”

“We were informed by one Dr. James Ekels that you played a crucial role in the operation of the planet destroyer Starkiller. He also said you were part of the crew that helped fire the Starkiller beam on the Hosnian system. Do you deny this?”

“Yes, actually,” Mitaka said coolly.

Leia frowned. “So you have a different story of what happened that doesn’t corroborate with this doctor?”

“That’s right.”

Leia sat back. “Then tell me your side of the story. Did you or did you not help power the Starkiller on the day it destroyed the Hosnian system, like this doctor claims?”

Mitaka snorted. “I am a dead man walking regardless of whether I tell the truth or lie, so why should I defend myself when it won’t matter in the end?”

Leia appeared offended by this. “We are not _savages_ , Lieutenant. Everyone will be given a fair trial—”

“—That will result in death no matter what anyone says,” Mitaka snapped. “Do you honestly believe that any Republic and Resistance sympathizer or member would be unbiased against us, even _with_ the facts presented to them?” Leaning over the table to get closer to Leia’s face, Mitaka glared at her. “Because that is _precisely_ what that bastard is counting on.”

There was a long, tense pause after this. Leia eyed Mitaka, who leaned back forcefully in his chair.

“Your fate has not been sealed yet, Lieutenant,” she soon said. “But if you do not defend yourself to me now, then it will be.” Mitaka didn’t say anything more. After a long pause, Leia stood up, looking disappointed. “Despite the terrors that the First Order has committed, we do not wish for anymore bloodshed on either side. I will give you three days to change your mind. If you do not, then it is out of my hands and you will be transferred to a far more biased prison than this one. By your boyish physique, I can’t see you lasting for very long, especially once you are stripped of your rank.”

‘ _Oh if only you realized that_ _ **looks**_ _aren’t everything,’_ Mitaka thought.

Turning towards the interrogation room door, Leia walked over, opened it, and then spoke to a guard outside. “The Lieutenant is to be escorted to prison block A in solitary confinement for three days.”

“Yes ma’am.”

As the guard came in with handcuffs, Leia looked back at Mitaka, who was staring at the table. “I will see you in three days, Lieutenant.”

Leia left as the guard clamped the cuffs to Mitaka’s wrists. He then yanked him harshly to his feet before practically dragging him out of the room and into the corridor. Mitaka allowed the guard to walk him to block A at the very end. Once they were inside a terribly small room with nothing but a hole in the floor that served as a toilet and a metal slab attached to the wall for a bed, the guard unlocked the cuffs, snidely told Mitaka to have a nice stay, and then left, slamming the door and locking it up tight. Mitaka glanced at it for a moment, noticing that there was no lock or handle on this side, no bars but a tiny window, and only a slot for a meal tray underneath. What _great_ accommodations for a mighty werewolf!

Sitting on the “bed”, Mitaka considered all of his options. Either he found a way to escape with wits and his secret strength, endure the three days that would drive any normal person mad, or take his own life now since he was a dead man walking anyway. The third option was entirely out of the question though. The beast wouldn’t allow Mitaka to die so easily. Not to mention he had that bond with Hux-

Mitaka quickly buried his face in his hands. What was happening back at the Finalizer? How many of his comrades had been captured or destroyed before and when Starkiller went up in smithereens? What was the fate of the First Order? And was Hux alive? Mitaka wished he knew where he was and where they would take him three days from now. He wagered he was a few light years away from the Order’s base of operations, otherwise he would probably feel a strong presence related to it, but all he felt was emptiness and loneliness. What was life going to be like for him the longer he was away from Hux?

Mitaka was in solitary confinement for several hours before two men came inside, one holding handcuffs.

“Hands.” Mitaka lifted his hands and held them a few inches apart. The cuffs were clamped around him. “Lift your feet.”

One at a time, Mitaka lifted each foot so that the men could remove his boots. He figured they were taking anything away from him that he could use as a weapon. They then removed his pants and tunic, along with his rank markers. For some reason, Mitaka felt that he needed one of them.

“May I…keep one of those?”

“Why? So you can choke on it?” Mitaka’s eyes narrowed slightly. The man smirked. “Fine. You’d be doing all of us a favor then.” The man shoved the cylinder into Mitaka’s mouth, but he grabbed it with his teeth so that it didn’t go all the way inside and down his throat. After removing the cuffs, the men started to leave with all his other belongings. “Enjoy your stay, _murderer_.”

Mitaka glared after them while grabbing his rank marker and taking it out of his mouth. “I’ve lived through _much_ worse.”

The door was slammed shut and locked, leaving Mitaka in pitch darkness. If it wasn’t for his enhanced eyesight, his nights would be unbearable. Well, after three days of hearing nothing but his beating heart would make his stay unbearable regardless, but he would handle it. Somehow…

* * *

At about 1400 hours the second day after Starkiller’s destruction, Hux was summoned by Snoke to get a report on the First Order’s situation since the disastrous event. After the emotional night he had had in the hospital wing with Ren, Hux’s voice didn’t hold its usual vigor and authoritative power as he relayed the list of missing and dead members of the Order.

“And what of the status in regard to Kylo Ren’s injuries?” Snoke asked.

“His doctor says he will be healed in another day or two if he keeps using the bacta wraps diligently. Kylo Ren is to stay in the hospital during that time. His doctor also recommends he takes it easy for at least two weeks.”

Snoke took all of this information in before he spoke again. “And what of you, General? How has the destruction of your prized possession affected you?”

Hux blinked, not in the mood to get into this sort of thing right now. “I am fine-”

“Remember, General, I am attuned to any and all energies around me or close to me, and yours is practically screaming its lungs out.” Snoke leaned forward to stare harder at Hux, who just looked downright exhausted. “How much pain are you in without Lieutenant Mitaka by your side? He isn’t even in the same star system as us. He is, by definition, _lost_ from the First Order, but more importantly from you. So I ask again, General: How has the destruction of Starkiller and the loss of Lieutenant Mitaka affected you?”

Hux stared at Snoke’s bald and scarred face for a while longer before he cast his gaze down to the walkway. “I will get over both losses long before the First Order draws up a new plan to take over the galaxy, Supreme Ruler.”

Snoke leaned back in his stone throne, giving Hux an odd look. “No, General, I do not think you will.”

Hux looked back up. “And what makes you think that?”

Snoke made an odd sound from his closed mouth, almost like a wet-sounding hum. “You failed to mention Dr. James Ekels in your casualties and fatalities and missing report from earlier. But he was accounted for just yesterday, wasn’t he, General?” Hux’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly at this. “However, it has come to my attention that he was found earlier this morning in a storage room, but he was not among the living anymore. In fact, I was specifically told that his entire throat had been slashed open by a very sharp and deadly, four-pronged weapon. You wouldn’t know anything about that, now, would you?” Hux didn’t answer. Snoke soon snorted. “I advise you, General, to forget all about Lieutenant Mitaka and to focus all your attention on fixing the First Order and working on making an all new plan that results in giving us what we want. Is that _clear_?”

The two stared silently at each other for a long time, but Hux soon cast his eyes down and nodded stiffly. “Understood, Supreme Ruler…”

“…I will give you some time to mourn, but then you _must_ focus on what is _truly_ important: ruling this galaxy like it was meant to be ruled!”

Hux had a terrible tightness in his chest after all that. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and then let it out silently before turning almost all the way around. “Yes, Supreme Ruler, it will be taken care of.”

Without a word from Snoke, Hux finished turning and walked away, feeling his heart ache at the thought of what he had to do to his love for Mitaka. If Hux didn’t sever their bond, then Snoke would, for the First Order’s sake.

* * *

It was now a few days after Hux brought Ren back to the Finalizer and brutally murdered Dr. Ekels. He was currently with Captain Phasma, who had barely made it off Starkiller before it self-destructed, looking over some saved footage that had been transferred to the destroyer ship before the planet’s demise. Although it was broken up and covered in static most of the time, they could see what all had happened with Mitaka going back in to save Thanisson and before the planet’s destruction.

Phasma and Hux’s reactions to the recorded live feed were different from each other. Phasma was stoic through most of it, but when she saw Mitaka’s surprising strength to literally throw another person with just his hands, curiosity got the better of her. Hux, meanwhile, was waiting in anticipation for Ekels to appear in the room, so that he knew exactly what had conspired between Ekels showing up to snap Thanisson’s neck and knocking Mitaka out cold with a large piece of concrete. He then picked the Lieutenant up, slinging him over his shoulder and then leaving.

Once the holovid showed the rest of the base exploding before the planet did the same, it ended abruptly and the control room was eerily quiet. Hux was staring at the screen in a silent rage while Phasma glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

“General-”

“No one else is to know about this holovid remnant,” Hux interrupted her, his voice weak but stern. He looked at Phasma. “Have it destroyed from every system we own. The First Order would go into a panic if they learned of what Mitaka and I are.”

Phasma blinked in confusion. “What _you_ are, sir?”

Hux turned his back on her as he was ready to leave. “Mitaka has been a werewolf for almost twenty years, and just months ago, I became the same.” Hux glanced at Phasma out of the corner of his eye. “Mitaka is my mate; that is why I was kissing him that day.” Looking back ahead, Hux headed out, his upset gaze staring at the floor. “We cannot risk anymore doubts in the First Order, Phasma, so we must destroy them. Even if it means destroying them all.”

Blinking, Phasma watched Hux walk out the door, feeling worried about him. As she thought back to the day she discovered the two men and then learned of all this, she saw why Hux seemed so much more distraught over this than under normal circumstances. Mitaka had changed him, and not just by turning him into a werewolf; with it came a little less darkness in Hux’s world. But now, with the Lieutenant missing and locating him was slim to none, who knew what newer changes would occur. Not just for Hux, but for the entire First Order, whatever may be left of the Republic, and the Resistance.

Deciding to wait to discover what would happen when the time came from now on, Phasma did what Hux had asked and deleted the holovid from everything, so that there would be no trace of two werewolves existing in the First Order. She had vowed to keep discovering Hux and Mitaka making out a secret, so she would do the same in this case.

Once everything had been deleted permanently, Phasma left the control room and headed for the training room, where five dozen or so soldiers were waiting to practice with some new prototype weapons that the First Order had whipped up recently in lieu of their heavy setback. Stormtrooper armor was also getting some new impressive upgrades that could withstand blaster bolts far better than before. The First Order was quick to start making up an all new plan for galaxy domination, starting first with improvements to armor, weapons, and fighting tactics.

Meanwhile, Hux had returned to the hospital to check up on Kylo Ren, who was making excellent progress in his physical recovery. When the General arrived, he heard arguing in Ren’s area of the hospital. Then there was the sound of something shattering, which put Hux in a pretty terrible mood. Looking up and over, he saw the doctor storming away from what appeared to be broken glass from a water pitcher. Ren was glaring after the doctor before he shoved his arms under his head as he leaned back against his pillows. Hux stopped next to the chunks of glass, giving the Knight an annoyed look.

“Could you just _once_ not break something when you get mildly ticked off about whatever the galactic hell is your problem?” Turning his head away, Ren snorted. Hux shook his head in disappointment. “And what exactly is your problem now?”

“I’ve been stuck in bed for days doing nothing but sleeping, what do you think my problem is?” Ren asked haughtily.

“I’m not in the mood for guessing games.”

Ren finally looked at Hux, noting his exhausted face. He grimaced. “You look awful.”

“I haven’t been able to sleep lately. Now what’s your problem? I don’t have all day you know.”

Ren sighed, gesturing around the entire hospital with his hands and arms. “I’m stuck in here doing nothing! I’m bored out of my mind! I asked the doctor if I could leave already, but he wants me to stay the full week, even though I feel _fine_!”

There was a long pause after Ren dropped his arms. Hux blinked a few times at him.

“What would you be doing now, then?” he asked.

“Well I have to train far more than before, but my injuries are still too extensive. I have been trying to strengthen my Force ability, but there’s only so much I can do laying here. That’s why I want to leave this stupid bed already!” Lifting his hand, Hux rubbed at his face, then moved it to the back of his neck to squeeze it. His whole body felt stiff and sore and his insomnia had returned since he learned of Mitaka’s cruel fate. Ren watched him work out the kinks in silence for a while, but then he got an idea. “Hey, get over here.”

Stopping, Hux looked up in confusion. “Excuse me?”

Ren sighed. “Just trust me and come closer, would you?” Hux eyed him momentarily before moving closer to the bed and higher up. Sitting up more, Ren lifted his right hand and held it in front of Hux’s face. “Just hold completely still, alright?”

Hux’s eyes narrowed. “What in the galactic hell are you doing?”

“Just stop talking!”

Hux growled weakly, but he kept his mouth shut. Closing his eyes, Ren began to concentrate, feeling for Hux’s life energy with the Force. Once he found strands of tangled and heavily weaving tendrils all over the General’s upper body, Ren’s energy began to slip through the cracks and odds and ends of the lines to break them free from one another. Beside him, Hux’s eyes widened slightly when he could faintly see Ren’s Force rising off him like smoke and enveloping Hux’s own body. The first time the General had seen this phenomenon was quite some time ago, but back then Ren had been angry at Hux’s incompetence when it came to locating the last piece of the map that would lead the First Order to Luke Skywalker. Unlike the first time, Hux felt more at ease and the aches he hadn’t even realized he had were beginning to unravel and disappear.

After a full minute, Ren eased the Force back out of Hux’s body, stopping to untangle any weaves he might have missed, before he was done. Using the Force to heal put a toll on his own body, so he dropped his arm and relaxed back, breathing a bit hard. Hux looked around on his body, noticing that he felt far better than he had in a while, physically speaking; mentally he was still depressed. Ren soon had his breath back and he forced a yawn to gain more oxygen.

“I got most of the more heavy duty pains in your upper body erased, but the rest will have to be done via bed rest and drinking a lot of fluids for the next few days,” Ren explained. Hux looked up at him once his inspection was complete. “You might have some side effects that you won’t like though. Like that one.”

Turning away suddenly so that no one could see his face, Hux closed his tear-filled eyes and pressed the back of his hand to them to clear them away. “I’m fine…”

“Except you’re not,” Ren said, matter-of-factly. “You're not going to be fine so long as Mitaka is gone.” He looked down at his hands in his lap. “Who knows if even  _I_ will be…”

Once he finally stopped crying, Hux turned back to Ren. “Like I told Phasma, we have to destroy any and all doubts we have in order to bring the First Order back on its feet. We need to remind ourselves of our purpose here, everyone else be damned.”

As soon as he said that, Hux felt a pain in his heart. As hard as it was going to be, he had to think of no one else but the Order, and that included the possibility that Mitaka was never coming back, lost to them forever. Hux didn’t know if he could believe in himself or not, but he had to attempt it. He had to prove to Snoke that taking control of the galaxy was the only thing he would focus on, no matter how difficult and painful that was going to be.

Kylo Ren was staring at Hux, not needing the Force to read his thoughts. The General had become an open book as of late and he was hurting way down deep inside with Mitaka gone.

“You should pull up a bed. You look like you are going to fall asleep on your feet.”

Hux glanced at Ren before nodding, turning to the bed area next to Ren’s, and going to it. He adjusted the bed backing before sitting down and lifting one leg at a time to stretch out. Ren watched him get situated for a bit before moving the backing down to lay almost flat. He glanced at Hux again half a minute later, seeing him already fast asleep as exhaustion and the threads of his life force being untangled took its toll.

Looking away for good this time, Ren closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and then tried to go back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we switch to Mitaka for the whole chapter


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You like bad ass Mitaka? Well then this chapter is for you!

Spending three lonely days in solitary confinement had almost driven Mitaka mad. Almost. The first day and night was boring, but fine. He had been given a hunk of dry, hard bread for breakfast and dinner and that was it. On day two, his ears had grown accustomed to hearing nothing but his breathing and beating heart. Mitaka would pace back and forth for distraction purposes and to feel the cold ground with his bare feet. By late that night, his hearing had increased tenfold and he couldn’t sleep. While on his metal slab and leaned against the wall, he would lightly bang the side of his head on it, just to take his mind off his heart that just got louder and louder each passing hour.

Now it was the third day and Mitaka thought his head was going to explode. Either sometime today or maybe not until tomorrow, he would be interrogated again and he had two options: Give the Resistance what they wanted or be transferred to this more biased prison that General Organa had mentioned. He could easily proclaim his innocence and go to trial where he would be sentenced to either a grueling life in prison or sentenced to death despite the truth. Although he had aided the First Order, he did not help power the Starkiller since he had been elsewhere during both times. But Mitaka wasn’t stupid; he knew not a single Resistance member or sympathizer would give him a fair trial. No one would even believe him anyway. No matter what he chose, it would end in death for him.

By that night, Mitaka was exhausted. Without even needing to look, he twirled his rank marker in his fingers of his left hand, still attempting to distract himself from hearing his heartbeat in his ears. But it was no use, it was just so kriffing loud. More time passed on by before Mitaka’s fingers stopped. He was staring at one specific spot on the wall as a thought struck him out of nowhere. After a few seconds, a faint smile formed on his face and he closed his eyes. Had he finally been broken? Was he thinking of telling General Organa the truth that she wanted? Or did he plan on selling out the First Order to save himself? Well only one person knew what he was thinking, and Mitaka planned on keeping it that way. Someone, somewhere, was going to lose and Mitaka was the decider in their fate. He just had to survive the night first.

With his mind re-running his plan over and over again in his head, Mitaka was finally distracted enough to no longer hear that ear-splitting beating coming from his heart. And with it, finally came a heavy and deep, beautiful sleep.

* * *

It was the afternoon of the fourth day. In a dark, cold corner, Mitaka was curled up into a tight ball, his hands pressed tightly to his ears and his eyes were screwed shut tight. Feeling his heart beat in his chest was far better than hearing it pound and pound and pound in his ears for nearly forty-eight hours straight.

Mitaka flinched harshly when he heard his small prison room door slam open loudly behind him. He then heard someone step inside and pause.

“I think he’s dead.”

“What? Really? Dammit, I wanted to give him a few swift kicks before he was shipped off.”

“…I mean, I guess you still _could_ and he’d feel it in the afterlife or some shit.”

“I am not kicking a corpse.”

“Fine, then I’ll do it.”

“Whatever floats your boat, man.”

Mitaka waited a moment for the first man to move closer. The man stopped behind him, paused as he moved his right leg back, and then aimed a kick for Mitaka’s spine. At the last possible second, Mitaka threw his arm behind him, caught the man’s calf by wrapping his arm around his leg, and then he was able to trip him up. The second man started yelling something as the first slammed into the hard ground, his head hitting it hard enough to knock him out. With his rank marker in a very tight hand, Mitaka rolled over to get on his knees and then he shot up to his feet. The second man had crouched by his companion to check him over, but hearing the Lieutenant move, he jerked his head up right as a knee came slamming into his face. Mitaka heard something crunch loudly from inside the man’s flesh. The man tumbled backward, blood pouring from his nose and Mitaka knew he had broken it possibly beyond repair. Without waiting another second, he ran to the door and slid out of it sideways. Ahead of him, Resistance guards were rushing to see what the commotion was and that’s when they spotted him.

“After him! Don’t let him get away!”

Although Mitaka wasn’t too adept in fighting, he had his werewolf swiftness and cunning to get him through obstacles such as these men with blasters. Gritting his teeth, he ducked and weaved as they started firing at him to incapacitate him. He soon reached the first two and, rather than try to knock them away, acted as if he would go one way, but then swiftly went the opposite. He ended up tripping one of them before spinning around and ducking while sliding on the floor. A blaster bolt flew over his head, hitting the wall instead. Twisting his body around, Mitaka grabbed the blaster with his free hand, jerked it hard out of the guard’s hands, and then smashed one side of his face with it. The guard cried out in pain as he jerked to the side, regaining his balance clumsily. Throwing the blaster behind him and managing to hit the second guard without needing to look, Mitaka got the rest of his body turned around and he charged down the hall towards the other guards that were a few feet back and firing their weapons.

In the next several seconds, Mitaka incapacitated many of the guards on his own and he was almost out of the tight space now. When one got in his way and aimed his blaster for the middle of his chest, he dropped down and performed a somersault, getting directly under the guard when he came out of the roll. He did some quick work with his hands to take the blaster away, pressed the muzzle into the guard’s stomach, and then fired off two quick shots. Screaming in pain, the guard flew back, crashing into the next three guards behind him. Getting back on his feet, Mitaka smashed the blaster against the wall to break it, threw the halves behind him, and then finally made it out of the hallway. By now, an alarm was sounding loudly throughout the entire prison, alerting everyone that a prisoner had broken free from their cell.

In one closed off area that served as the prison warden’s base of operations, Leia Organa had been speaking to some Resistance commanders about the next available transfer from one prison to another when the alarm sounded. Looking over her shoulder, Leia saw a guard getting knocked back as they sailed past the large window of the warden room. Her eyes widened when she recognized Mitaka as he was running past. She quickly turned to one of the men.

“Find a way to stop the Lieutenant! I _have_ to speak with him again before he’s transferred!”

“Yes ma’am!”

The men gathered their weapons and ran out of the room to help the other guards stop Mitaka from escaping. Leia, meanwhile, decided to go a different route to stop him in case the guards couldn’t. As she headed through the prison, she thought back to what that defected First Order doctor had told her about the Lieutenant.

~

“I am sorry, sir, but you cannot request an audience with the Resistance General without informing one of us on who you’re escorting into our facilities. For all we know, you are trying to ambush us by lying through your teeth-”

“I do not give a _damn_ what your protocol is, I must speak to General Organa before this slimy bastard wakes up!”

“Wakes up? What do you mean?”

“At ease, Captain,” an older woman’s voice said behind him.

Looking back, the Captain saw General Leia Organa approaching the loading and unloading dock. She stopped before the barrier, eyeing the lab coat-wearing man reproachfully.

“But General Organa-”

Leia lifted a hand to stop him, shutting him up instantly. She soon lowered it as she continued to stare at the newcomer. “Now, who am I speaking with? And what or whom do you have for us?”

“My name is Dr. James Ekels. I was hired as a doctor aboard the Finalizer for the First Order. We did not see eye-to-eye after a specific incident, but I vowed to stay on as a sort of spy for the Resistance. I have very valuable information to give on an important prisoner that could be used to help you take on the First Order.”

Leia was quiet for some time as she contemplated this, but she soon nodded, then turned to the Captain. “Captain, gather a few guards to take care of the prisoner while I escort Dr. Ekels to a meeting room.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The Captain turned around and left, while Leia closed down the barrier and stepped aside. “If you will come inside, doctor.” Nodding, Ekels walked in, (a cruel smirk of triumph appearing on his face that Leia wouldn’t get to see). She turned the barrier back on before leading him through the small docking yard of the Resistance ship. It was a couple of minutes before she opened a door on a different wing and stepped aside to let Ekels enter first. They both entered and Leia closed the door behind them. “Please, sit.”

Picking the chair to the left of the head of the table, Ekels sat down as Leia took the main chair. This room was fairly small and was a bit on the chilly side, but it was comfortable. Ekels was the first to speak.

“What is to happen to the prisoner once he’s here?”

General Organa stared calmly at Ekels, but deep inside, she felt something off about this man. She didn’t know what it was, only that she didn’t like it. He had an air about him that made her very suspicious of him.

“It depends on the information you give us,” she soon answered, trying to be as vague as possible. “If it’s as valuable as you claim it to be, then our options will be decided based on that.”

“I figured as much,” Ekels said. “You do not trust me, but I assure you, what I have to say will be beneficial to the Resistance and Republic.”

“That is for me to decide,” Leia said coolly.

“Yes ma’am.”

“You may state your case.”

Nodding, Ekels began to explain himself, like he had rehearsed what he was going to say ahead of time. “I was able to incapacitate and detain one Dopheld Mitaka, who is a lesser Lieutenant of the First Order. He was a patient of mine and a personal aide for General Hux. His primary position, however, was to power the Starkiller weapon. He is one of the many reasons the Hosnian System was destroyed and he tried to do the same the second time. During the evacuation of the planet, I managed to incapacitate him with a blow to the head, stowed him away in my small ship, and then left long before the planet self-destructed. I figured I could gain your trust and join the Resistance if I gave the Lieutenant up for his war crimes. I may have started down the path of the First Order, through both their manipulation and fear tactics, but my heart has always been with the Republic. I certainly hope with my story that I can continue to be a spy for you and the Resistance, but that is entirely up to you.”

“Yes, it most certainly _is_ my decision and mine alone,” Leia agreed. They went silent for a bit as she considered her options. While she believed in the doctor’s retelling of the events, she also didn’t fully trust him either. She could not pinpoint what made her uneasy about Ekels, but this was about imprisoning a warmonger for his horrendous crimes, not whether or not Ekels could be a triple agent. After some time, she came up with a decision. “I believe in what you say, doctor. The Lieutenant will be escorted to one of our prison bases for interrogation. He is now out of your hands. As for being a double agent, I cannot give you such an order, nor do I suggest it, but do what you feel you must do. If that means spying on the First Order for us, then so be it.

“Now, is there anything _else_ you would like to tell me?”

Ekels shook his head. “No ma’am.”

Nodding, Leia stood up, Ekels following suit. She stared silently at him for a few more seconds before speaking again. “Thank you for your help, doctor, but we do not require anything more of you. You may go.”

Ekels gave a nod. “Yes ma’am.” Moving away from the table, Leia moved to the door and opened it, standing off to the side so that Ekels could leave. He moved between the door frame and was about to head back for his ship, but he stopped and turned back. “If I may give my personal opinion, ma’am?”

Leia blinked, wondering what else Ekels could possibly say. “If you must…”

A stern look appeared on Ekels’ face. “Dopheld Mitaka is just as much of a war lord as General Hux is. They are far too close to not suffer the same fate. So I see it only fitting that they receive the highest punishment for the genocide of the Hosnian System. They are better off being executed than imprisoned for the remainder of their days. Showing them mercy would only result in a potential future prison break-”

“I will be the judge of that,” General Organa interrupted sternly. Ekels closed his mouth quickly. “Now if that is all, I have several prisoners to escort to a Resistance prison on one of the neighboring planets. Remember what I have said about returning to the First Order.”

“Of course ma’am. And I will.”

Leia gave him a nod, signaling that he could go. Turning back the way he came, Ekels headed for the docking bay. Leia watched him go, her eyes narrowing as that feeling deep in her gut told her to take his story with a grain of salt. She had a very strong feeling that there was something he wasn’t telling her, and not just about this Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka. Perhaps there was someone else Ekels wished to see suffer at the hands of the Resistance, too.

After a deep breath, General Organa headed for another part of the ship before she left for the prison planet not far from their location. She wanted to personally interrogate the Lieutenant about what Ekels had told her, so she had to get there ahead of time for preparations.

~

Back in the warden’s room, Leia finished her recollection, feeling that same sensation she had felt back when she first saw Ekels. There was something neither him nor Mitaka was telling her and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. But first, they had to recapture Lieutenant Mitaka before he disappeared somewhere on this desolate wasteland of a planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Update:** January 25th


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More bad ass Mitaka, with a side of snarky and not putting up with anyone's shit

Mitaka was running hard for his life as he was chased by the Resistance through the prison. He was using his nose to guide him out of there and then he would have to find a place on the planet itself to hide until they gave up. As he passed prison cells, still clutching hard to his rank marker, other prisoners were yelling for him to help them out, but he ignored them. He did mentally apologize for leaving them behind since they were beneficial to the First Order, but he figured if he could escape and find a way to contact the Finalizer, then they could come back to rescue them. If they had given anything away, they were either to be executed or reconditioned, both options not being a favorable one.

Mitaka soon found himself in a mostly bare area that was close to the entrance. He had had to go a longer route due to several sections being closed off because of his escape, but he was almost out of there now. Sniffing the air quickly, he found which direction he needed to go next and he started to run for it. He was almost to freedom that he could taste it!

Minutes later and Mitaka had reached the vast foyer of the prison base. He rushed to the door that would lead him outside, but he had to abruptly stop in his tracks when it remained closed. He swore under his breath, having been too preoccupied with escaping to think that the entrance was the first to completely lockdown. He had to find some other way out now. He was about to head off again when he heard a shout far to his left.

“Lieutenant Mitaka!”

Stopping, Mitaka looked over and saw General Organa approaching him. He turned to glare at her. “If you do not let me go, General Organa, you will not find the consequences very pleasant.”

“Lieutenant, since the day you arrived from the prison ship that brought you here, there has been something heavy on my conscious that I _must_ address.”

Mitaka growled weakly at her. “I do not give a kriffing _damn_ what you’re going through!”

Leia looked sternly at him. “You did not power the Starkiller during either instance, did you, Lieutenant?” Mitaka’s eyes widened. Leia moved closer to him. “That is what your former physician told me when he brought you to us. He said you are one of the main reasons for the decimation of the Hosnian System. And while I do believe you should be charged with a crime, I do not believe it should be for the crime that was presented to me. You may have aided the Order, but you did not murder anyone. That alone can save your life.”

Mitaka stepped away when Leia took another step towards him. “My fate was decided the second I joined the First Order, General Organa. As I have said the first time, no Resistance or Republic sympathizer will believe the facts. The only thing a biased jury will see on that stand is a murderer. Death is my only option no matter what I choose. So, no, ma’am, I will _not_ give you the truth, nor will I lie, because I am dead either way.”

They stared silently at each other for a long time. By now, soldiers and guards were surrounding them, all of them pointing their blasters at Mitaka, who had nowhere else to run. Leia wished she could convince him that he would live if he confessed the truth and to dispose Dr. Ekels for what he really was, but she knew it was out of her hands now. Closing her eyes, she exhaled, then reopened them to stare at Mitaka with remorse.

“Escort the prisoner to the transfer ship, Captain Arlo.” Leia looked at Arlo as she continued. “Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka is to be charged with powering the Starkiller weapon on the Hosnian System and when the First Order tried to fire on the Illenium System. He is a flight risk, so he will need to be under constant surveillance on the trip to the maximum security prison this afternoon and while he is imprisoned there, awaiting trial.”

“Yes, General.”

Captain Arlo and a few guards headed for Mitaka, who continued to stare at Leia with disdain. She reached him before the guards got to him first, staring hard at him.

“I hope that whomever you are trying to run towards, Mitaka, that your silence is worth it. Because you have just ensured that you will _never_ see him again.”

A strange numbness filled Mitaka at General Organa’s choice of pronouns and the look in her eye, as if she knew exactly who Mitaka was missing so terribly. Before he was handcuffed and escorted to the transfer ship, he looked down at the floor in defeat. Leia didn’t take her eyes off him, even as the guards clamped the white metal cuffs to his wrists and led him away. Once she was alone, she looked at the floor to release a breath, wishing she had never given Mitaka three days to change his mind. During that time, while she had a free moment to think of the story Ekels told her, she had figured out whom Mitaka was trying to protect. Deep down, she completely understood why he had done nothing to defend himself. If Han was in such a position as Mitaka, he wouldn’t sell out the Republic or Resistance either, just so he could protect the love of his life. That was all Mitaka really wanted.

‘ _This is the price we all pay for war, Leia,’_ she thought to herself as she headed through the prison, which was free from the lockdown now that the escapee had been captured once more. _‘If Mitaka is willing to sacrifice himself for the First Order to protect General Hux, then I cannot stop him, no matter how much it pains me.’_

General Organa wished it wasn’t this way, but neither side was willing to give up, so she had to let Mitaka go. Speaking of which, Mitaka was between two heavily armed guards as they were heading for the transfer ship that carried many of the First Order members that had been captured and stripped of their belongings. Mitaka still held his rank marker, unable to let it go for some unknown reason. As they reached the side of the ship a minute later, he was given a new set of clothes that he would change into after they took off for the prison he was assigned to. He was shoved into an uncomfortable, plastic seat, but the handcuffs weren’t removed. He figured they would wait to be in the air before they freed their hands.

For the next several minutes, prisoners were shoved into seats and Mitaka soon found himself in between two of them. He didn’t bother looking at anyone since he probably didn’t know any of them. It wasn’t like he was forced to memorize who was who by name. Only the most superior of officers had that galactic hell to go through.

Once everyone was seated and the pilot and co-pilot were in the cockpit starting the ship up, they were ready to lift-off into space. Mitaka kept his eyes on his feet, gently thumbing the rank marker. The ship shuddered as they rose into the air and soon skyrocketed off the ground, through the atmosphere, and entering the deep reaches of space. The ship leveled itself out for a smooth ride to whatever planet they were heading for and then the guards came around to unlock the handcuffs. They had to do it three at a time to avoid anyone thinking of overpowering the crew, which wasn’t many. Mitaka had to wait at least five minutes before it was his turn.

“Hurry up and get dressed. And no funny business this time.” Not saying anything, Mitaka stood, set his rank marker on his seat, and began to pull on the plain, gray pants he was given. The guard saw the marker on the seat. “Where did you get that?”

Mitaka looked at the guard, saw where he was looking, and then looked back at him. “One of the prison guards I knocked out cold let me have it.”

The guard snorted. “You may as well just leave it. Where you’re going, you get _nothing_ but shit food and you’re going to have to share a large cell with thirty or so men that may or may not find your stupid face pretty enough to ruin.”

Mitaka didn’t respond to that while he pulled his scratchy and stiff gray top that matched his pants on. Once he was seated again, with his rank marker in his pant pocket for safe-keeping, the guard put his handcuffs back on and then moved on to the next prisoner. By now Mitaka decided to glance around, just in case he recognized _somebody_ from the First Order. There weren’t many that he noticed, so it would be slim to none to be caged with someone he could at least have a pleasant conversation with as they waited for their sentences to be carried out.

The trip to the nearest planet took every nightly hour and part of the morning to reach. It had been uncomfortable and a little stuffy, but the prison they would be in was far worse than this. Even just being on the same ship as all these men and women made Mitaka want to gag or sneeze due to his enhanced nose picking up everything. The ship soon flew into a docking port on the outside of the giant prison and at least five hundred meters away. Row-by-row, the prisoners were led off the ship and they had to trek barefooted across some kind of nasty swamp before coming across hard ground. Mitaka had to hold his breath the entire walk to the prison so that he didn’t vomit. It appeared most of the prisoners had to do the same, but they didn’t have as strong of a nose as Mitaka did, so they weren’t aware of how much he could still smell without fully breathing.

After a long time, they finally made it to the front of the prison made of heavy duty steel and concrete. Outside were washing stations for their drenched with swamp gunk- and vegetation-covered feet that they had to step into and shake off. Once everyone was done, they were led inside to find a whole slew of people, including heavily armed guards, other prisoners being escorted in military-style lines to who knows where, and Resistance officers that were giving an orientation to newly hired guards about how the prison worked and what times the prisoners were meant to go to their meals and showers. No one acknowledged the new set of prisoners coming inside and heading for their cells.

The lead guard stepped up to a man dressed in Admiral’s gear to speak privately with him some time later. This lasted quite a while before the Admiral looked at the big group.

“Dopheld Mitaka, step forward!” The prisoners looked around at each other, knowing that name now that they heard it. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Mitaka started moving through the crowd to reach the front. Guards came by to pull prisoners aside and disperse them. Seconds later, Mitaka stopped a few feet from the Admiral and the lead guard, his face blank. The Admiral sized him up before speaking again. “It has come to my attention that General Organa has given strict orders to lock you in the most secure area of the prison. You are a flight risk, according to her. Well I call folly on that just by the looks of you. So I have elected to ignore her command and consider it a mere suggestion instead. You will be locked up in the same cell as everyone else that you came with. What they decide to do to you in there is not my concern. Now get back in line and shut up.”

Mitaka didn’t need to be told twice. Without a word, he turned around and returned to his previous spot, ignoring the stares as he walked. The Admiral dismissed them and they were led to their final destination.

Surprisingly, the cells were much bigger and spacious than Mitaka thought, but they were completely exposed. And this prison wasn’t just filled with First Order members and sympathizers either. All sorts of bad people and aliens and weirdos were shoved in together like sardines. The noise alone would drive Mitaka crazy. And the smells were the worst he had ever had the misfortune of experiencing. He certainly hoped the beast didn’t decide to go into heat over all of this stress. He didn’t particularly feel like becoming someone’s prison bitch while he was here for however long it took to get a trial set for him. Assuming he would even get one, that is.

The group had to be split up a bit as they reached the next empty cell, and then their handcuffs were removed before going inside. Unfortunately for Mitaka, he was stuck inside the partial filled one, where he saw at least two members of Kanjiklub nearby. Had he not been a werewolf, they would all eat him alive in there because of his boyish physique. After a few moments of being inside, Mitaka couldn’t help but smirk and then chuckle, getting a few curious glances.

“Oh they are going to _wish_ they hadn’t put me in with you guys,” he said out loud.

The men closest to him looked at each other in confusion, both of them thinking the same thing. The biggest looked at Mitaka in anger.

“Was that a threat, you little punk?”

Mitaka glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t tempt me.”

“Why you little ingrate-!”

“HEY! Shut the hell up in there, ya stupid fucks!”

The man gave Mitaka the evil eye before moving away with his buddy. Shaking his head, the Lieutenant scoured the cell for a slightly less claustrophobic spot, finding it in the western corner. He walked over, turned around to keep his back to the connecting sides, and sat down. The constant and aggravatingly loud din that the prisoners created was pounding into his ears already and he breathed so faint that it didn’t seem like he was breathing at all. He tried not to become violently ill as all of his senses kicked into overdrive. This was going to be harder to deal with than Mitaka originally thought. Had these idiots just done what General Organa asked of them, they wouldn’t have to be in for a nasty surprise by the end of the month.

For most of the afternoon, Mitaka sat in his corner, trying to stave off the boredom and the horrendous scents and sounds and the itchy fabric of their prison garb on his skin. He wouldn’t be surprised if he developed a rash soon. By dinner time, half of the cells each were led out to get their dinner in the large mess hall. Mitaka was one of the first few to go in his cell. The only person he might recognize was one of the Kanjiklub men, who didn’t even acknowledge him or pay much attention. It took at least two minutes to reach the mess hall, which was already pretty crowded and loud. The prisoners were forced into a long line to first pick up a plate and silverware before moving down the line to where the food was hot and steaming for them. As a slimy and vomit-looking casserole was plopped onto Mitaka’s plate, he decided that he was going to die from dehydration caused by excessive vomiting. Not to mention this shit could probably flush them all out, assuming it tasted as nasty as it looked. They were also given a slice of soggy bread and all they could have to drink was water in water bottles.

By the end of the line, the guards directed prisoners to the nearest empty seat at the long tables and Mitaka was, thankfully, on an end rather than in the middle. So far, this had been the only good thing to come out of his bullshit imprisonment.

Mitaka looked at his dinner, not sure where to start. His face screwed up in disgust as he lifted some casserole with a spoon to his head and caught the smell of it even worse from up close.

“Don’t worry, kid, you’ll get used to their slop soon enough.”

Mitaka glanced at the man beside him at the other table, who was reading some kind of book in a language Mitaka couldn’t read. “I would rather starve.”

The man chuckled, finished the page he was on, and then saved his place with a scrap of paper. “It’s not as terrible tasting as it looks and smells, trust me.” Mitaka still wasn’t sure, even as the man shoveled in a good spoonful, but he plugged his nose and forced it into his mouth. He shuddered violently at the texture of the dish, but he made himself swallow it down. The older gentleman was right, it didn’t taste too gross. “So what’re you in for, kid?”

Mitaka had to drink some water with every spoonful. “I aided in genocide recently.”

“Ah, so you’re a First Order brat,” the man said, tearing a chunk of bread off with his teeth. “We hear a lot about your kind in here. Funny, you don’t look like a soldier.”

“I am, or rather I was, a Lieutenant on the Finalizer. All I had to do was help power up a powerful weapon and I tailed the General around.” The man just nodded as he ate. Mitaka blinked at him a few times. “And you?”

“Sympathizer,” the man said flatly. “I led a few protests on my home world, which landed me here. Though I wasn’t much for violence, so I’m in the more mediocre end of the prison. I’m not a flight risk, unlike most in here.”

“Mh.”

When the man was finished eating, he picked his book back up and continued to read. “You better eat up, kid. I have heard that the worst parts of the prison are not as kind as my area.”

Mitaka rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone assume that because I’m a little chubby and small, I’m going to get into trouble easier?”

The man glanced at him. “That’s because nobody expects you’d be much of a threat. Just…make yourself vomit if anyone tries to get you, okay kid? And don’t drop the soap.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.”

The man snorted in amusement before returning to his book for the remainder of his time there. Mitaka continued to make himself eat the slop and he tried to eat the bread, but it was so wet it felt like cold porridge with soaked paper mixed in. He ended up spitting it out and guzzling the rest of his water to get the bad taste out of his mouth, which got a laugh from the old man. It was soon time to go and the older man’s table was being escorted first. He gave Mitaka an encouraging nod.

“Take care of yourself, kid. Maybe we’ll see each other again.”

Mitaka just nodded before the man’s group left. Minutes later and it was his table’s turn to head back for their cells. As they were leaving in single file in two columns, more prisoners were coming in for dinner. On the way back, they were given a bathroom break for the night, with the next one being in the morning before breakfast. Mitaka didn’t want to know what they would be having during the other two meal times.

After dinner and the cells had all of their prisoners back, the lights went completely out and the guards yelled for everyone to shut up and go to sleep. Mitaka was back in his corner, not feeling the slightest bit tired yet. If it wasn’t for the werewolf gene, he would be just as blind as the rest of these assholes. He was definitely one of the lucky ones in that regard.

Hours passed and it was mostly quiet, minus a few haunting noises that Mitaka could only guess what they were. But the one thing he noticed above all else, that had nearly drove him insane back in solitary confinement, was the inconsistent beating of everyone’s hearts. Some were very faint, whereas many were loud, like the beating of drums. Mitaka leaned back in his corner with his eyes wide open in aggravation, not knowing how long he could handle such torture. Everyone’s heartbeats filling his ears alone made him wish he was dead.

It was soon nearing morning and Mitaka hadn’t slept a wink all night. For the last hour, he had been banging the back of his head against the bars to drown out the thumping noises as best he could. The only downside was the massive headache he was getting.

“Maybe you should try smashing your head harder so that you’ll kill yourself faster.” Hearing the voice in front of him, Mitaka lifted his exhausted gaze and saw one of the more heavyset prisoners of his cell staring down at him. “Kriffing move over, otherwise I’ma piss on ya.” Without a word, Mitaka turned his head away, not moving. The man scowled as he gently kicked him in the leg. “I’m being serious, bub. I have to piss. Move it.” When Mitaka still didn’t do anything, the man pushed the waistline of his pants off his hips. “Last chance, bub.”

“Pee on me and I’m going to rip that dick right out of your crotch,” Mitaka snapped as he glared at him from the corner of his eye.

The man looked dumbstruck at him momentarily, thought better of it, and then turned to the side instead to relieve himself. Mitaka snorted before tearing his gaze away, trying to ignore the sound and smell of urine passing a couple feet away from him. He forced himself to scoot over a few inches to get as far away from it as possible without having his backside exposed.

“You’re _real_ bold there, aren’t ya, bub?” the man asked before turning and walking away.

Mitaka didn’t say anything. A couple of hours later, it was breakfast time for Mitaka’s block, and this meal wasn’t any better. He wasn’t even quite sure what it was, but it looked like some flimsy flat bread drenched in syrup and they got a small bowl of orange slices to go with it. At least it tasted better than that casserole and soggy bread. Half an hour later, it was time to go back to the cells before lunch hours later and then hours after, they received two hours of recreation time. As Mitaka was entering his cell, he asked the guard what day of the month it was.

“It’s the seventeenth.”

“Thanks.”

Mitaka returned to his corner. The floor where the man from that morning took a leak had been cleaned up with a wet mop. That didn’t fully remove the smell though, so Mitaka avoided breathing too deeply. By the time it was time to go outside for recreation, Mitaka was learning to filter between everyone’s scents and he would eventually stop noticing them too strongly altogether. Lunch had been terrible and small, but Mitaka forced himself to eat it, like the old man suggested. He was now outside with about a hundred inmates for recreation. The outside air was fresh and cool, so that was helping him feel better. At some point, the prisoners were becoming rowdy, but the guards didn’t bother breaking it up unless it got too out of hand.

“Hey asswipe, get up.”

Hearing the loud annoying voice close to his head, Mitaka glanced up from his lying position on the top tier of the three-tier bleachers that was up against the prison wall, seeing one of his cell mates glaring at him. He recognized him as one of the ones he had stood next to when he was first placed in his cell.

“What do you want?”

“My boys and I wanna kick your ass to teach you a lesson about threatening guys bigger than you, that’s what.” After a few more seconds of staring, Mitaka closed his eyes again and ignored them. This didn’t sit too well with the gang leader. “That’s it, prepare to have your head bashed into the fucking concrete!”

The guy didn’t even see it coming. He had gone in to beat Mitaka in the face, but with his faster reflexes, he rolled over backwards and dropped from the bleachers to land on his feet. The man’s fist smashed the metal seat, spraining some fingers, but he quickly turned on Mitaka, who didn’t look too worried.

“You little cunt!”

Mitaka ducked when a swinging fist came for his face again. The arm sailed right over him, exposing the man’s front for a tackle. Slamming his body into his sternum, Mitaka slammed the man’s back into the seat to injure his spine before pulling him away and throwing him to the ground. Once he let go, he stared blankly down at the man as he groaned and writhed in pain.

“You’ll live.”

Turning to the side, Mitaka ignored the rest of the gang in order to walk away. They stared after him in awe at what he managed to do to a guy nearly twice his size. As he headed for a more deserted part of the rec area, Mitaka curled his hands into fists to hide his werewolf claws. He deeply inhaled the fresh air to calm down the beast. It was not the right time for this prison to find out what he truly was yet. They could wait a few more days until then. At the thought, Mitaka smirked. For once in his life, he was looking forward to becoming the beast. Then he would show them what they were up against.

‘ _I just hope Hux will be okay without me this time,’_ he thought.

Mitaka had spent a good amount of time thinking of Hux and wondering what he was doing and how he was holding up without his mate close-by. It was faint inside his own belly, but Mitaka could feel that sensation he always felt when around Hux ache and cry out for him. He knew exactly what it was too: loneliness. Once again, Mitaka was the only werewolf around, and no one here would ever understand how this all felt. He was truly and utterly alone once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Update:** February 3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought Mitaka was snarky and bad ass before? Well you haven't read nothing yet! Time to go into BEAST MODE!

Almost a week had passed since Mitaka was transferred to the high-security and infamous Resistance prison. He was in the recreation area with a hundred or so other prisoners, watching disdainfully at the commotion that was happening at one end. About thirty guys were surrounding two others that were wrestling with each other over some petty argument that had occurred minutes before. Most of them were First Order members and sympathizers, and Mitaka couldn’t help but feel pissed off at their lack of professionalism. This was not how people of the First Order were supposed to behave.

“Bunch of morons, aren’t they, Doph?”

Looking away from the crowd finally, Mitaka looked to the older gentleman sitting next to him. This was the protester who Mitaka had met at dinner on the first night six days ago. “They’re a disgrace to the First Order.”

“You could teach them some manners or two,” the man said with a wink.

Snorting, Mitaka looked down at his raised knees, twisting his rank marker in between his fingers. “Or the guards can just do their damn jobs.”

The man watched him do his thing for a moment. “Why do you keep that thing for anyway? You’re probably going to be sentenced to death anyway, so there’s really no point in having it.”

Mitaka shook his head. “I don’t know, something keeps telling me to keep it on me no matter what.”

“Well I hope one day you figure out what that reason is.”

After a few more twists, Mitaka placed the marker back in his pant’s pocket for safe keeping, and then stretched out on the bleachers they were preoccupying. They were silent for a long time, still hearing the commotion nearby.

“I don’t mean to pry, but you don’t look so good. You sick or something?”

Mitaka stared up at the cloudy sky. His companion decided to wait about a minute for him to give an answer before changing the subject. Maybe it wasn’t his business to know anyway.

“Are you a man of your word, Darrel?” Mitaka soon asked, not looking away from the clouds.

Darrel shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I could be. Why do you ask?”

There was a long pause before Mitaka carefully sat up and then looked at him. “There’s a reason I look awful, Darrel. Once a month, I get…ill, for lack of a better word. Before I tell you exactly what I mean, you have to promise to keep it to yourself. Only a few others know my secret, people I know I can trust. So can I trust you too?”

The man nodded. “Of course. I promise to take it to my grave.”

There was a pause as Mitaka contemplated telling him the truth. Darrel had been kind to him since day one, so he believed him. After a deep breath to calm himself, Mitaka turned to face him, leaving his back to the rec area.

“When I was seven years old, I was bitten by a werewolf and became one in return.”

Darrel stared at Mitaka as though he was crazy. “Werebeasts… _exist_?” Mitaka nodded. Darrel didn’t look as if he believed him. “That isn’t funny, Doph!”

“Does it look like I’m laughing?” Mitaka asked.

Darrel was dumbstruck. When Mitaka still didn’t burst out laughing or yell “syke” or whatever, fear bubbled up inside the man. “Kriff, Doph, how am I supposed to react to this supernatural bullshit?! That’s crazy!”

“I know it sounds far-fetched, but it’s the truth. And tonight is my transformation night. That’s why I look so awful. It isn’t even close to dark yet and yet I feel the burning in my belly that signals that its almost time to become the beast. I’ll be in my cell by the time it starts and no one will be able to stop it. These Resistance bastards have no _idea_ what they have done by not listening to General Organa.”

Darrel still looked like he wasn’t taking this news very well. Mitaka didn’t blame him; he was scared. Most people in the galaxy didn’t believe in werebeasts or any other supernatural thing, but very soon an entire prison full of arrogant inmates and guards was going to start believing in it. Having that kind of power was both frightening and reassuring.

After a while, Darrel swallowed hard to get the hard lump out of his throat. “What will happen to you? What happens when you’re…the beast?”

“I don’t know full details since the human brain goes dark when transformed. All I know is my body will be in excruciating pain as it changes shape. Kylo Ren, who is a Knight for the Order, was able to use his Force ability to unlock the human portion of my brain that prevented me from knowing what happens as the beast. I will be able to remember what happened when I’m human again in the morning, I’ll be able to have conscious thought during the night, and I’m not sure what else. As for what I plan to do for this particular night? I don’t know yet, but I might be able to escape from here or I can let everyone escape and we take down this prison together, there’s so many possibilities. But my main goal is to return to the Finalizer and help the Order get back on its feet. That’s where I’m meant to be.”

There was a long pause before Darrel released a breath and then nodded. “Okay, I understand, Doph. Thank you for telling me. I will keep my word and not tell anyone.”

“Thanks.”

Sighing, Darrel stood up and headed off the three-tier bleachers. “I need to process all of this alone, Doph. If you are conscious tonight, come find me.” Stepping off the bleachers, Darrel looked back up at Mitaka, who was staring down at him tiredly. “But if you’re not, then stay the galactic hell away from me.”

Mitaka’s shoulders slumped at hearing this and he looked hurt. Darrel walked away, talking to himself in order to get his troubled mind under control. Mitaka looked off to the side seconds later, wishing he hadn’t said a thing at all. Now Darrel would never look at him the same way again.

_Never get attached to people, Dopheld. No good can ever come from loving anyone._

Tears pricked Mitaka’s eyes at the memory of the shaman telling him this, feeling even more alone than ever. No matter what anyone said, he would forever hate what he was. Not even Hux could tell him otherwise. Not being able to tell the people he loved and cared about who he truly was was the worst part of being a werewolf. Physical pain was _nothing_ compared to the emotional pain he now shared with so many in his life.

For the remainder of the day, Mitaka never saw Darrel again. When it was time to go to dinner, he stayed behind in his cell. The guards had tried to drag him out for a few minutes before giving up.

“Hey, if he wants to starve to death, then let the little cunt stay,” one said nastily.

So they had locked him up again and didn’t return, but Mitaka didn’t care. As the time to transform drew ever nearer, he thought about Hux and wondered what being the beast would be like for him without Mitaka by his side. There was just two more hours left now and everyone in his cell was returning. He stayed by the door, leaning against the bars with narrowed eyes as the burning sensation in his belly grew in intensity. The two hours then turned into one and Mitaka couldn’t help but wonder how the inmates would react to him changing. He wasn’t sure if he should be gleeful when these pathetic First Order people saw him or feel bad for them. How badly would they be traumatized knowing they had been sharing a cell with a monster?

There was now only ten minutes left before the fire would erupt and spread through Mitaka’s body like wildfire. In just ten minutes, these gullible fools would be in for a very nasty surprise. He glanced at all of them mulling around or talking and bickering before lights out. He soon spotted the two guys he had warned on day one close-by.

“Hey, you two.”

Hearing the voice directed at them, the two looked over and saw Mitaka staring at them. The biggest one that had wanted to pulverize him turned, clearly still remembering what had nearly happened to his spine in the rec area.

“What the kriff do you want?”

Sitting up, Mitaka pulled his rank marker out of his pocket. “Could one of you do me a favor?”

“And why should we help your fat ass after you threatened us?”

Feeling pain in his belly, Mitaka stood up, needing to use the bars for support. “I am a very important person in the First Order.” Stepping closer to them, he showed his rank marker. “So I suggest if you want to get out of this prison alive, you do exactly as I say.”

The men looked at each other, confused.

“What are you talking about, little man?”

“What do you mean get out of here?”

When there was only a couple of minutes left, Mitaka fell to his knees, snarling in pain that started in the pit of his stomach. He shakily held out his rank marker. “P-Please, don’t lose this. I-I need it f-for later.”

“What the kriff man?! What’s wrong with you?!”

When the fire finally erupted inside his body, Mitaka fell forward, placing his hands and marker on the floor as he hunched up his body and growled loudly. The two men quickly stepped away, looking stunned. By now, prisoners were staring at them curiously. One of the men from Kanjiklub was watching with a blank look on his face.

“This should turn out to be an interesting night,” he said to his companion, who was smirking as if he knew something.

“Oh yes, brother, very interesting indeed.”

Soon, the nearest cells started hearing a commotion going on, so they all tried to get a look at the cell between them. The ones on Mitaka’s side were staring at him, thinking he was having a seizure or was going to be sick. His claws were now on his hands and they made grooves in the floor when he dragged them towards his palms to hide them. The sounds of cracking and shifting bones echoed around this vast section of the prison. Eventually the noises and snarls from Mitaka as his skin began to shred away and be replaced by werewolf hide under his clothing reached many of the guards, so they began to search for the source. It was only when they started to hear men panicking and screaming for help that they ran between each cell to check them rather than walk.

As Mitaka’s body began to bulk up, the rough clothing he wore was tearing, so he tried miserably to speed up the process by clawing and tearing it. Almost two minutes later, he forced himself on his back before it arched and he cried out animalistically. His cellmates were staying backed up as far as they could from him, many stunned and afraid and trying to decide if they were hallucinating or if Mitaka was actually changing form.

Sleek black fur had sprouted all over Mitaka’s skin by now and his fangs were almost too big to fit in his normal mouth. It would be another minute before he grew a wolf head and tall, pointed ears. The pain was just as bad as all those times before and he felt like passing out, but he had to stay awake. They could easily capture him if he was unconscious and he couldn’t have that.

By now the guards had arrived and they saw the rest of Mitaka’s transformation take place. Shock filled their wide eyes and faces. Mitaka was laying on his side like a wounded animal, panting and growling as he waited for the pain to subside. His clothes were in tatters around him and he was naked, revealing what he truly was. An eerie silence was all around the cells as the cellmates got a good look at a full grown werewolf for the very first time. Once Mitaka was completely still and not appearing to be breathing, a few inmates cautiously approached him to check him over. The guards were aiming their blasters at the black werewolf just in case he tried to attack anyone.

No one could see it, but Mitaka opened one eye and was surprised to feel so much different now. He was very much aware that he wasn’t mindless, so he wondered if he had just had a nightmare or if something happened to where he reverted back. It wasn’t until he saw his snout that he realized he _was_ the beast, just a very self-aware one. So this is how it felt to be a full blown werewolf. Mitaka could get used to this.

“Is he…dead?” a guard inquired of one of the inmates.

‘ _No, but you certainly wish I was,’_ Mitaka thought. There was a pause. _‘Okay, this is really kriffing weird.’_

Mitaka was impressed with his new found ability to have actual thoughts and not just rely on instinct alone. This was definitely an improvement. He was a bit jealous of Hux since he had experienced this the last time thanks to Kylo Ren’s help.

“I wouldn’t get any closer if I were you,” the smirking Kanjiklub brother said out loud.

The inmates backed away quickly at the warning. Mitaka was curious to know what the Kanjiklub gang knew about werebeasts, assuming that that’s what this was about. Well, it was now or never, he supposed. So he began to lift his head slowly, getting a few gasps from prisoners and guards, and then he placed his hand-paws down to push his upper body off the floor. Everyone backed further away again as his body began to fill the half empty space. Feeling the rank marker under his palm, Mitaka grabbed it firmly before getting up on all fours. He stared at the floor for a few seconds before he turned his muzzle towards the guards outside the door. They tightened their grips on their blasters, setting them to kill instead of stun to be on the safe side. They hadn’t been trained to handle such situations like this, so they weren’t entirely sure what they should be doing. Parting his teeth and fangs that dripped with saliva, Mitaka growled low in his throat in warning at the guards, daring them to try and fire upon him.

“Would that cell keep him inside?” one guard asked quietly, in hopes to not let Mitaka hear.

But Mitaka had heard him, and he noted the quiver too. Deciding to be cruel to them, he swiftly slammed his mouth against the door, snarling and snapping his fangs against the bars. They rattled violently and the sudden leap forward had scared the daylights out of the first row of guards. Dropping back down, Mitaka growled with his teeth fully bared. It felt so stupid and weird to know exactly how his body worked now that he was consciously aware of everything. At least it sent terror through the mens’ veins, so he concentrated on that instead.

Deciding to test his strength since he hadn’t been able to see himself until now, Mitaka stood up, raised his right arm beside him and at an upward angle, and then quickly slashed at the bars as hard as he could with his claws. They created dangerous and deadly sparks and deep grooves were left in the thick steel. A sense of triumph filled Mitaka as he figured out that if he slashed the bars enough times that he’d break them.

“HAARK!”

“Shit!”

“FIRE!”

After Mitaka had snarled and snapped his fangs at them, the guards began to fire their blasters that sent deadly beams that could kill at him. With his inhuman swiftness, Mitaka jumped sideways, then back, then to the opposite side, ducked, and then ran around the front of the cell on all fours to dodge them. He ignored the sounds of prisoners screaming as they were shot and killed by the blasters. The guards stopped firing because of this and were trying to switch their blasters to stun instead. This gave Mitaka enough time to use both hand-paws to claw at the bars a few times in quick succession. He then slammed the bulk of his body into the door, feeling the bars dent inward at the claw marks. Behind him, the prisoners were impressed, if not a bit frightened, but this werewolf didn’t pay them any attention, so they figured they would be safe. Plus, it looked as if he was going to break them free!

With most of the blasters set on stun, the guards started shooting again, but Mitaka merely moved around before slamming his body into the bars over and over again. The commotion now alerted many of the inmates in surrounding cells. Not being able to see from so far away, they felt fear fill them at the unknown. Would they be safe inside their cages or would whatever was happening come to them too?

After a few more failed attempts at shooting Mitaka, the guards reached into their belts and yanked out smoke grenades, throwing them inside the cell to blind him. They then began to fire again, hearing men getting shot, but not hearing yelps or howls from the werewolf. The smoke was heavy now and they heard something large slamming into the door, but they were unable to see the damage. Seconds later, they heard a high-pitched sound and then something scraping across the floor. Seeing it at the last possible second, three guards didn’t get the chance to dodge as a large piece of the steel door flew into them, smashing them into another cell. The rest of the guards froze in fear. Faintly, they heard a weak growl that grew louder and more sinister. As the smoke began to disappear, they saw a tall, menacing figure coming out of the cage. At the edge of the smoke cloud, a thick, strong, furry leg stepped out, the big, sharp claws clinking on the floor. Slowly, the guards began to lift their heads, their eyes widening in stunned horror.

The guards jumped in fear when Mitaka fully stepped out of the cage and smoke, growling at them with his lips parted to reveal his deadly teeth and fangs. They couldn’t move or look away as they saw this monstrous beast come closer. Stopping a few feet away with his legs spread a few inches, Mitaka stared at them with a deadly gaze, his pupils almost a slit and his eyes had a wild look about them. Lifting his arms beside him seconds later, his claws curled in towards his palms, he spread his legs more, tightened his back paws and claws onto the floor, and, as he hunched over slightly in the middle, opened his mouth wide.

“HRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Update:** February 12


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We switch right to Hux and what he does for his transformation on the First Order's secondary base

It was another transformation night and Hux didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t know where to go so that no one else of the First Order found out about him being a werewolf, didn’t know how bad the pain would be now that the beast’s brain was one with his human brain, and he definitely didn’t know how being a werewolf without Mitaka by his side was going to feel. The only comfort he had in becoming the beast tonight was the fact that it meant Mitaka was alive and probably at a Resistance prison awaiting trial for his crimes of aiding the First Order. Hux didn’t know what all Ekels had told the Resistance besides offering up the suggestion of execution, so there was a chance he had given them false information to ensure that Mitaka would have a far worse punishment than was needed. Hux certainly hoped an execution would never come to that. If Mitaka was at a Resistance prison, then they would be in for a very nasty surprise this evening.

“I spoke to Supreme Ruler Snoke about tonight,” Kylo Ren said, only loud enough for Hux to hear as they walked through a corridor of the Finalizer together. “I will be on the planet with you for training purposes. Do you think you will be up to helping me?”

Hux shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. I haven’t been transformed fully conscious before.”

“Right…” There was a pause before a thought came to Ren. “What’s a transformation like anyway?”

“Excruciatingly painful.”

“Anything else?”

Hux glanced at him. “I guess you will have to find that out for yourself.”

They continued through the Finalizer without a word between them for a while, but they soon met up with Captain Phasma, who had been looking for Hux for the last half hour.

“General, Drill Sergeant Atkins would like a word with you about the new weapons commissioned recently. He wants your personal opinion on them before he starts the new training program.”

Hux shook his head. “Tell him he can make the final decisions on what is used and what isn’t since he is running the program. Because as of now, I really don’t give a damn about any of that.”

“But sir-”

“Captain Phasma, today is not the best day to argue with General Hux,” Ren said. “Remember, it’s curfew night.”

Phasma was confused for a moment, but then it hit her. She then nodded. “Yes General, I understand. I will give Atkins the message.” With a nod of approval, Hux walked around Phasma to head back for his quarters in order to get ready for tonight. Ren and Phasma stayed behind, staring after him. “…I still cannot get over the fact that we have had two werewolves in our midst for several months.”

Ren glanced at her. “That was the point of the curfew. The two of us knowing is bad enough.”

Phasma looked at him. “How did you find out?”

“It’s a long story,” Ren answered as he started walking again. Phasma followed him. “I was trying to sleep when I felt a disturbance in the Force and I…”

While Ren explained the night he had to fight to survive against two huge werewolves, Hux took a hot shower to help loosen up his body as much as possible before going to the planet tonight. The less tense he was, hopefully the pain of transforming would be too. He did expect to be in a lot of pain, even after the transformation, so he was trying everything he possibly could think of to make it less strenuous on his body. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to not feel pain period however. If Mitaka had to suffer alone, then Hux wanted to suffer the same.

Half an hour from curfew later that night, it was time to leave the Finalizer. Captain Phasma went with Kylo Ren and Hux to the space pod that they would be taking to the secondary base. There were only a few ship engineers and technicians dealing with a TIE Fighter that was getting a weapon’s upgrade, but they ignored the trio. As Hux and Ren were getting into their seats, Phasma looked in on them on Hux’s side.

“You two be careful out there. We have yet to reconnaissance the planet for any monsters and aliens inhabiting it.”

“You are talking to two very strong forces, Captain,” Ren said as he got the pod turned on and ready for take-off. “Not to mention I had to fight them the night I found out about them. Hux can handle himself.”

Hux glanced at Phasma. “Thank you, Captain, but Ren is correct: he knows what fighting against a werewolf is like. We will be back in the morning before duty.”

Phasma gave a short bow. “Of course, General, Knight Ren. Good night.”

As Phasma stepped away from the pod, Ren made the hatches close, they buckled their seat belts, and then he pressed the eject button, making them hurtle through space at sixty knots. It didn’t take long to enter the atmosphere and descend towards an elongated clearing with a river that was near a dense forest. On the opposite side a few hundred kilometers away was a grassy plain that reached towards a rock desert and cliffs.

The space pod reached the ground close to the river a few minutes later. Once motionless, Ren turned off the pod and then unlocked and opened the doors. The two men got out and Hux took a look around. The air was fresh and cool and clean and the temperature was just warm enough for it to be pleasant. For the first time since becoming a werewolf, he would get to see what life was like in were-form. Part of him expected to feel something familiar due to the similar setting of this planet from Starkiller, but it all felt foreign. It was almost nauseating.

“Aside from the lack of snow, this place is very much like Starkiller was,” Ren said as he came towards Hux’s side after walking around the front of the pod. “You should feel right at home.”

Hux glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “I feel nothing of the sort.”

“So what happens now?” Ren asked after a pause. “How do you know you’re ready to transform?”

Looking ahead while crouching, Hux quickly untied his basic black boots before standing up and pushing them off with his toes at the heel. “First the fire comes.”

Ren looked confused. “The fire?”

“Not a real fire,” Hux answered while unbuckling his belt and dropping it. “It is more like burning pain deep in my belly.”

“Oh, because I was going to say-”

Hux was now working on getting his plain, black pants off, shoving them from his hips. “It gets stronger the darker it gets and then, eventually, it consumes your body and you feel like you’ve been gutted by a large blade.” When the pants were to his knees, Hux lifted one leg at a time to yank the leggings off. Once both legs were freed, he balled up the pants and dropped them on top of his boots. Ren watched him get naked, looking as if it didn’t bother him any. “After that, it takes a few minutes for the transformation to finish. I stop knowing anything for at least the last forty minutes. I don’t know if I pass out or not.”

“I see.”

Reaching up to his neck, Hux grabbed the hidden zipper to his newly designed tunic and pulled it down to open the front. He then shrugged it off his shoulders before pulling it off at the cuff for each arm. During the last week, the First Order’s regulation uniforms had been changed to be lighter and less rough against the skin. Everything was basic black now, didn’t clamp too tightly around the throat, and the sleeves were longer in order to cover part of the hands. Black or dark gray gloves were optional and the boots were simple, like the one’s Hux just removed. The less restricting the clothing was, the easier it was to move around and fight in if the time called for it.

The First Order and Stormtroopers’ wardrobes weren’t the only ones that had changed. The Knights of Ren, whose members had dropped to four, had also upgraded their outfits with their own designs they had come up with. Kylo Ren’s had changed significantly. For starters, he had ditched the long shirt with arm warmers for a thigh-length, sleeveless tank top that had thick holes at the arms and fit snug enough to his body above the waist to show off his toned muscles. As Hux had once so “nicely” suggested, Ren shed a few pounds to make himself lighter for better movability. That meant the robe had to go and he replaced his multi-layered shawl with a thinner and shorter one, with a dark gray-furred hood attachment. He wore black slacks that bunched up around his ankles if he wasn’t wearing his calf-high boots and his belt was thinner and right above his hips. On the sides was a rectangular box holster each, one for his sword lightsaber and the other for a more modern, secondary one. He, too, had the option for gloves, so he wore thick, red and black ones with cuffs that reached a few inches above his wrists and were Velcro-ed down. Ren had crafted a brand new helmet to be similar looking to his distorted Darth Vader helmet, but he would only wear it when facing off against the Resistance.

“You don’t have to watch over me, Ren,” Hux said when he was just in his skin tight, black boxers.

Ren scowled at him. “I want to see what a werewolf transformation looks like.”

“I’m not a zoo animal!”

“Oh gimme a break.”

“Go back to the Finalizer!”

Ren kept his booted feet planted firmly on the ground, his arms folding over his chest. “I’m staying right here. And besides, I can’t leave even if I wanted to. Supreme Ruler Snoke ordered me to keep an eye on you. He doesn’t trust you, not after what you did to that doctor.”

“He was a traitor to the First Order. He had to be dealt with straight away,” Hux argued.

“Slashing his throat out with your claws could have cost you and Mitaka’s secrecy.”

Snorting, Hux turned away and forcefully shoved his boxers down, the night air getting colder now that he was completely naked. The burning in his stomach had arrived and, any second now, he would be falling to his knees in agony.

“Just…stay by the pod and don’t come near me, no matter what.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Just do as I say!” Hux snapped, right before the fire ruptured.

Ren’s eyes widened when Hux snarled as he dropped to his knees, his clawed hands going up to the sides of his head. His body tightened and curled up and the sound of cracking and shifting bones could be heard. By the snarling and trembling and then seeing Hux fall over like a wounded animal, Ren didn’t need the Force to know Hux was in agonizing pain. As time went on, he became fascinated by the transformation, especially when he saw Hux’s skin begin to shed away to be replaced by fur stubble. Ren suddenly winced when Hux threw himself onto his back seconds before his spine practically broke in half in order to add new vertebrae. His chest jerked up into the air as his muscles bulked out and he screamed.

Forgetting that Hux asked him to stay away, Ren rushed around him, dropped down in a crouch, and then grabbed his temples with both hands. Feeling the new pressure, Hux reached back, grabbing Ren’s wrist in a death grip. Ren growled when the claws pierced his flesh and he could feel more fur growing.

“L-Let go! What’re you doing?!”

Already Hux’s voice had changed into the one he normally had when in heat. Ren ignored him as he pressed his fingertips hard against his skull. The Force began to seep into Hux’s flesh and traveled through his brain to reach the pain receptors. Hux’s body kept jerking around and his muscles got stronger as more fur and wolf hide replaced his human flesh. The Force hovered over the receptors before carefully enveloping them. Within seconds, Hux gradually stopped his struggling, though he had a few convulsions here and there. It took him a moment to realize what Ren had done. But rather than be relieved and thankful, anger boiled up inside of him.

“Are you alright?” Ren asked, not realizing Hux’s turmoil.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!”

“What-? Hey!” Hux had forced his head up to break out of the hold. For a second, the pain returned, but then was gone again when Ren forced him back down. “What are you doing?! I’m trying to help you!”

“I DON’T WANT YOUR FUCKING HELP, DAMMIT!”

“Stop screaming-ow!”

Hux shot his arm out, slamming claws against the underside of Ren’s chin. The Knight lost his balance and fell backwards, his fingers gripping the temples harder out of reflex. Hux snarled, trying to get him to let go as his transformation was nearing its completion. All that was left was his wolf head, which grew in size. Ren quickly wrapped his legs around Hux’s neck, holding him still for the remainder of the transformation. Finally, after approximately four minutes in total, Hux finally collapsed, panting and growling at the same time from his open snout. Ren’s leg grip was tight for a few more seconds before he relaxed somewhat. He then sat up, staring down at Hux’s face.

“What the galactic hell was your _problem_?” As Ren pulled the Force back out of him, Hux felt his fingers’ grip weaken, finally giving him the opportunity to escape. With fast reflexes, he shot up into a sitting position and then threw his body around to slide back a few feet on all fours. He then bared his fangs at Ren, who looked dumbstruck and peeved. “What is the _matter_ with you?!”

“I told you to _stay aWAY_!”

Ren frowned. “I was just trying to make the pain stop…”

Snarling angrily, Hux threw himself at Ren, who didn’t get the chance to dodge. He slammed the Knight to the ground, gripping his shoulders painfully tight. He growled at him, his eyes becoming wet.

“I didn’t _want_ the pain to _stop_!”

“What?! Why?!”

Shoving his hand-paws against his shoulders, Hux pushed away from Ren and headed for the woods. “You just wouldn’t under _stand_ …”

Before Ren could say anything against that, Hux ran off on all fours, needing to be alone. Sitting up, Ren watched him go, still confused on why he wouldn’t understand.

“Hux, why didn’t you want the pain to stop?! Hux?! HUX!” There was no response. Sighing, Ren got to his feet, dusting himself off. “What would he want to be in pain for, anyway?” he thought out loud. There was a moment of silence. “…Oh.”

There was only one explanation for Hux’s decision to not be pain-free for his transformation: Mitaka. If Mitaka had to suffer the pain, then Hux wanted to suffer along with him. Despite what the General had said about severing all doubts for the First Order, he still couldn’t let Mitaka go. Ren didn’t blame him. Ever since Mitaka had told Ren that he knew what it was like to be him, the Knight felt a deep connection with the Lieutenant too. Inadvertently, Mitaka had imprinted on Ren as much as he had imprinted on Hux. All three of them knew what it was like to be monsters…

Ren wished there was something he could do to help Hux and Mitaka reunite, but finding the Lieutenant was slim to none. But, slim was better than nothing at all, so maybe-

Quickly thinking of something, Ren returned to the pod, turned it back on, and then locked onto the Finalizer’s location before taking off. It might take the whole night to come up with a proper plan, but it would be worth trying to bring Mitaka home and to the ones who loved him the most. All Ren had to do was convince the only person that could give him permission to take Hux onto a ship and go on a wild goose chase for their lost member of the First Order.

Meanwhile, in the safety of the large trees, Hux had eventually stood up to walk on two legs. Being conscious was still something he had to get used to, which helped now that he was alone. He was thinking long and hard about Mitaka and wondering how he was doing on his own. The only comfort Hux had was knowing that Mitaka was still alive and, hopefully, fighting and trying to escape whatever prison he had been taken to.

For an hour, Hux explored the new territory and kept an eye out for any animals or aliens that might inhabit the planet. He sniffed the air constantly, not picking up anything that seemed familiar to him. This part of the planet smelled like Starkiller, but it wasn’t Starkiller, and it bothered Hux for some reason. The lack of a scent of snow told him that this planet didn’t have winters, or at least ones that had no snow. It was somewhat of an eerie thought.

Hux soon reached trees that were huge in both height and circumference. Stopping under one, he looked up as high as he could, but it was near impossible to see the apex. He began to circle the tree, keeping an eye out for low branches that he could grab. He wasn’t even halfway around before finding a few close together. Huffing heavily, Hux got up on his toes to reach the first branch. He dug his claws into the bark tightly, placed one back paw on the trunk, and then hoisted himself up with a hard push. Pulling himself up was easier than he realized, but he had to sit down on the branch to get a better grip for the next branch to grab onto and climb up.

For ten minutes, Hux climbed the magnificent tree, having to circle halfway around it for proper handholds. He was soon near the top, so he looked up to see how thin the branches became. He blinked curious eyes when instead of a point, he saw a flat tree top. The branches would be able to hold his weight, he noted, so he climbed the rest of the way.

Hux’s red head poked up out of the canopy of the flat-top tree and he moved up a little higher until half of his body was out of it. As he looked from one side to the other, his eyes gradually widened at what he could see.

“Whoa…”

Hux could see so much from up here and it was breathtaking. As far as the eye could see, he saw multiple terrains spanning across this side of the planet along the horizon. His current location was forests, but he also saw canyons, a desert, and to his right, a river connected to a vast ocean. Hux couldn’t imagine anything else more magnificent than this, and he had been to plenty of planets all over the galaxy. Then again, Hux wasn’t a werewolf before, which meant this is how beautiful all planets were to those with acute senses. It was remarkable!

Hux suddenly lowered his gaze, his eyes narrowing in despair. For just a moment, he had felt happiness, but then he remembered that Mitaka wasn’t here to share this amazing moment with him. Nothing could ever be beautiful without Mitaka around…

Feeling not so good anymore, Hux lowered himself back into the tree, his ears drooping as he made his way back down. He couldn’t believe he allowed himself to have a fleeting moment of happiness just because the planet was a magnificent one. If Mitaka wasn’t happy where he was, then Hux didn’t want to be happy either.

The trip down the tree was faster than the trip up, as most trips went. Hux jumped down from a ten foot drop, landing in a crouch with his fingertips on the ground. He then stood up and continued his exploration, thinking of nobody else but the one he lost in one of the worst ways possible.

* * *

It was an hour before sunrise. All night, Kylo Ren had planned out what he was going to say to Supreme Ruler Snoke about his far-fetched proposal. It would be a risk, but one he was willing to take. Although Mitaka nor Hux had been able to turn Ren the night he had found out their secret, he still felt a deep connection with both of them, more so with Mitaka. Ren still remembered the day Starkiller was half an hour away from exploding, when Ren tried to get Mitaka to leave the planet so that he wouldn’t have to suffer the pains of it dying a second time.

“Supreme Ruler, may I approach?”

From a stone throne, much like the one the hologram once sat on back on Starkiller, Supreme Ruler Snoke was watching Kylo Ren approach him. “Kylo Ren, you were told to stay with General Hux.”

Ren stopped a few feet from him. He didn’t have to look up very far, seeing as Snoke was only seven feet tall in person and was sitting. “I know, master, but Hux…” Ren paused to gather his thoughts and then continued. “Hux’s mental health concerns me.”

“Is that so…”

“I was there while he transformed and…he didn’t want his pain taken away. I know why, and I believe you do too, and I… Master, if you will permit me, I would like to take Hux with me to find Lieutenant Mitaka.”

There was a long pause after this straight to the point request that was more than just a long shot because of Snoke. He regarded Ren for a while before he closed his eyes and sighed.

“I knew this would become a problem…” Ren cast his eyes down to the floor. Snoke looked back at him. “You ask for far too much, Kylo. While two werewolves as fighting forces would be ideal, the Lieutenant is long gone. Finding him would be highly improbable.”

Ren lifted his gaze. “Yes, master, I do know how hard it would be to locate him, the most probable conclusion is him being lost forever, but I cannot stand by and watch Hux destroy himself. He cannot let Mitaka go, no matter how much you need him to. But I wish to try finding Mitaka, not just for the First Order’s sake, but Hux’s as well. We risk him defecting like that traitor FN-2187, one that we cannot afford. No one can do what Hux can do. He needs Mitaka, just as much as I need you…” Ren didn’t know what else to say to convince Snoke to let them leave, which made him feel completely useless, if he was to be perfectly honest. But it was the best explanation he had, so he hoped it would be enough. Then again… Ren swallowed hard, hoping what he would say next didn’t set Snoke off. “Besides, you still remember what _love_ is, don’t you, master?”

A dead silence filled the chamber. An unnoticeable muscle twitched under Snoke’s left eye as he had flashbacks of memories long since forgotten. It was definitely smart and bold of Ren to ask this. Once his memories left him, Snoke’s face looked as if nothing had happened.

“You are far wiser beyond your years than I once realized, Kylo Ren.” Snoke paused, causing Ren’s heart to beat a bit faster in anticipation. “Very well. You have my permission to go on this impossible request of yours, with General Hux in tow. You must continue training your body and mind while you are away. Is that clear?”

“Yes master, I will be diligent.”

Snoke sighed again. “You cannot be gone for very long. If you do not locate the Lieutenant in three months, then you must convince General Hux to return without him. I will not allow our goals to end simply for one man.”

“Yes master, I understand,” Ren said, feeling elated.

“Then go. _If_ you locate the Lieutenant, inform the First Order immediately. Is that understood?”

“Yes, master.”

“Good luck, Kylo Ren. You are going to need it…”

With a simple nod of acknowledgment, Ren turned around and headed for the door. When it opened, he stopped to look back. “Thank you, master.”

Snoke watched Ren leave, feeling something unknown deep within his very being. Mitaka coming home would not end well for any of them, he could feel it…

* * *

A strange, unknown sound filled the sky, signaling that it was morning to whatever other manners of creatures inhabited the planet. The sun gradually rose above the cliffs, casting its warmth all over this half of the planet.

Down below in a woodsy clearing, curled up into a tight ball, as if he had been doing it all night long, Hux began to stir and curled his nude human form tighter. By the time he was half awake, the sound of a heavy object fell to the ground a few feet behind him. Grumbling as the whump forced him awake the rest of the way, he rolled back a bit to glare at whatever it was over his shoulder. When he saw a Duffle bag and a pair of black-clad legs, he lifted his gaze to come face-to-face with Kylo Ren.

“Well don’t just lay there feeling sorry for yourself, get up and get dressed. We have a very special mission to go on.”

Hux had been about to tell him off, but he was now intrigued. “What, are you-?”

“Dress first, ask questions later. I will tell you everything once we’re on our way in one of the unmarked travel ships.” Hux didn’t move, still trying to wake up and figure out what Ren was going on about. “For Snoke’s sake, Hux, stand the kriff up and let’s _go_!”

Growling in annoyance, Hux rolled back forward, pressed his hands into the ground, and then pushed himself up into a sitting position. “This had better be good, Ren…”

“Just hurry up.”

Standing on aching legs, Hux cracked his neck and shoulders, rotated his arms as he turned around, and then stepped up to the Duffle. He crouched down, hearing and feeling his knees and ankles pop, and then yanked open the bag. Inside were a basic pair of dark clothing without any kind of foot wear, plus basic bathroom essentials. Hux eyed the items in curiosity.

“Ren, where exactly are we going?”

Ren sighed loudly in aggravation. “Shit, Hux, we’re going to outer space to try and find our friendly neighborhood werewolf, Dopheld Mitaka.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mitaka, Hux, and Kylo Ren's outfits for this book (items missing/inaccurate): http://hitaka5ever.tumblr.com/post/163341835752/
> 
> Read the description on Tumblr for more information


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAND back to Mitaka for this one and the next :3 Also, angst and sadness and rage and carnage and-

There was pandemonium in a high security Resistance prison one evening. The sound of blaster bolts being fired from hundreds of guns filled most of the area where a black werewolf was running rampant. So far, it had killed a few dozen guards and it seemed to be gaining more ground every minute.

As he ran around taking out Resistance people, Mitaka tried to decide what all should be done about this prison. Should he free the imprisoned to take down the Resistance and claim the prison as their own, or were they better off destroying it? How would they destroy it was the biggest question to that possibility. Mitaka knew next to nothing about this prison unless he found the control room or its blueprints. It was too bad that he couldn’t communicate with anyone via spoken words, otherwise he would ask for help from the prisoners. They needed a leader, which wasn’t in Mitaka’s job description as far as he was concerned. The only person he would trust to lead was in an area he had no idea where to go.

Eventually Mitaka was getting bored and tired of fighting his way through on his own, so he rushed to the nearest large cell and began to slash at the bars quickly. The prisoners inside backed away in fright. When there were enough deep grooves in them, Mitaka grabbed the outer bars and yanked hard on them. The sound of steel bars breaking echoed around the cell as the full chunk came free. Turning, Mitaka Frisbeed it at a few approaching gunman, knocking them back as it struck them, and then ran to another cell to do the same thing.

Within minutes, Mitaka had opened ten cells, ignored the prisoners staring gaping mouthed at him, and then moved on to more cells. He attacked gunman along the way, trying to get to as many cells as possible before moving on. By now, the prisoners realized they were free, so they all rushed out and began to run, attacking anyone that got in the way. By now, an all out war was occurring between the Resistance and the First Order and other criminals with no affiliation. The bad guys were determined to make this prison their own, whether many of them died or not.

Mitaka didn’t know how much time had passed before he had freed everyone in this area. Wanting to get a better look at the place, he rushed to a wall, jumped at it, and then pushed off to get to the top of a cage. He landed and slid on all fours, his rank marker clutched tightly in his right hand-paw, not wanting to lose it. From this vantage point, he got a clear view of the floor plan and where everyone was running to and from. Guards were trying to subdue and apprehend escapees with their stun guns. In a few areas, prisoners were being cornered and having a hard time fighting back the Resistance.

Ignoring everyone for a moment, Mitaka closed his eyes, allowing his ears and nose to gain strength. His tall ears twitched as they listened and he breathed in deeply with his big nose as he tried to picture the prison in his mind. It took several seconds to filter out unwanted sounds and smells in order to picture what the prison looked like from his vantage point. Everyone had a faint color around their entire bodies and a yellow glow could be seen along the edges of walls, the cages, floor, and ceiling. It was almost like seeing a transparent, three-dimensional projection of a computerized blueprint of the prison.

Almost a minute later, Mitaka opened his eyes, turned in the direction of one of the groups being taken down by guards, and then ran across the cage-tops to reach them. With a roar, he leaped down at the guards, aiming tight fists at them. Hearing the noise, they stopped and lifted their blasters, screaming when they were knocked down in a split second. One of the lucky ones came up behind Mitaka, aiming his blaster for the back of his head, but, sensing him there, the werewolf spun around, swinging his arm and smacking him hard. The guard flew back, crashing into another small group of guards and knocking them over.

As Mitaka headed further away from his area to find a special location, he attacked guards, killed many, and left some to the “mercy” of the prisoners as he headed for his destination. He ran on all fours, knocking people over in his haste, having one goal in mind.

In another, less restricted area of the prison, guards were being alerted of the high security area’s conflict and trying to usher any stragglers back into their cells. Mitaka’s friend Darrel had been playing cards with another inmate when he overheard a guard asking if he heard another guard correctly about a furry monster running rampant.

“Hurry back into your rooms! There’s a threat on the loose! No, you can’t get a quick look, Mikey!”

“Aw man!”

Darrel was conflicted on whether he should do as the guard said or look for Mitaka to help him. In the end, he decided to return to his cell and hope Mitaka never found him if he wasn’t consciously aware of anything. As Darrel sat on his cot, he was shaking lightly in fear. He could hear a terrible commotion far away and somehow he knew Mitaka was coming this way.

“Man, I wonder what’s out there,” the one known as Mikey said in awe. “Well whatever it is, people sure are screaming in terror out there.”

“Quiet Mikey!” one of the guards yelled.

“One of yous should investigate and tell us what’s out there!”

“Mikey, for the last time, shut _UP_!”

“GRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!”

Darrel never jumped up so fast in his life. He moved to the middle of his cell, heart racing and breath coming out hard and loud. Every time he heard a guard cry out or heard the angry roar and the slamming of guards in the walls and cell doors, Darrel winced and once or twice whimpered.

“Wow, cool!”

Darrel really wished Mikey would shut up. Seconds later, he flinched back harshly when something large and black appeared in front of his cell door, breaking it off at the hinges and yanking it open. In the doorway, Mitaka, who was growling weakly at Darrel as he bore his eyes into him, stepped forward. Darrel quickly backed up when Mitaka entered slowly, having to stop when he reached the back wall. There was nowhere for him to run and he had no idea if Mitaka was mentally conscious or not. Darrel would either escape and live or die right here.

Noticing how frightened Darrel was, Mitaka breathed heavily through his nose to avoid growling at him and then dropped to all fours. Darrel was pressed so hard against the wall that it hurt his spine and back of his head. The man was visibly shaking now, but still Mitaka advanced slowly on him, to show Darrel that he meant him no harm.

“S-Stay back…” Mitaka gave Darrel the oddest look in his eyes. When the man figured out what emotion Mitaka was conveying, he began to relax. “Doph?”

Making a soft growling sound in his throat, Mitaka stopped in front of him, blinking his large, brown eyes that appeared wet at him. Closing them, Mitaka gently pressed the top of his head into Darrel’s chest and roo-ed weakly. Darrel was hesitant as he slowly lifted his hand, hoping this wasn’t just a trick that werewolves played on their prey to put them in a false sense of security. Mitaka remained absolutely still as he waited for the hand to gently touch his fluffy cheek. Swallowing hard, Darrel carefully pushed his fingers through the thick fur. Mitaka roo-ed again to let Darrel know that everything would be okay.

“Prisoner 225, get down!”

Darrel’s head shot up from the shout. His eyes widened when two guards that came out of nowhere fired their weapons at Mitaka’s back. Without thinking about the consequences of his actions, Darrel leaped over him to get in the way and was shot twice instead. Mitaka threw his body partway around when he felt Darrel slam into him. His eyes widened when he saw blood flying through the air.

“Shit! Prisoner 225, are you alright?!”

Turning all the way around, Mitaka quickly rolled Darrel over in shock, seeing where he had been hit. Tears welled up in his eyes when he saw Darrel’s chest bloody and burned from the blaster bolts that had been set to kill. As he lay there dying, anger and pain filled Mitaka’s chest. Seconds later, and the hair on the back of his neck began to rise and his anger quickly turned to rage. Jerking his head up to growl at the guards, his eyes flashed red and then that was it.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!”

The guards never even had a chance. There were screams and then the sound of flesh tearing and blood splattering the floor and walls filled the cell. By then, more guards had shown up, not knowing that they would never see the flash of deadly claws and fangs ripping them open in a gruesome and agonizing death. As he ran rampant through the prison, Mitaka didn’t care who he attacked and killed, anyone that got in his way met the same, _terrible_ fate.

* * *

It was quiet. _Too_ quiet. Not a single groan or breath, nor whimper of fear. But there was a stench, a dark scent of carnage and bloodshed and death.

“Hrrg…D-Doph it’s…n-no use. It’s too…l-late, for me n-now…” In what appeared to be a medical ward of the prison, Mitaka still as a werewolf was crouched over Darrel, licking at his chest wounds from the blaster attack half an hour previously. Mitaka was determined to keep him alive. He _needed_ him alive. “Doph, p-please…just stop.”

Lifting his head to growl, Mitaka slammed his left hand-paw against Darrel’s mouth to shut him up, and then returned to licking his injuries. Darrel breathed loudly through his nose, smelling a bitter, coppery taste that was soaked into Mitaka’s fur. He soon relaxed when he knew Mitaka wouldn’t stop no matter what happened. Closing his eyes, he tried to force himself to just pass away, knowing Mitaka’s efforts were useless. The werewolf would find out soon enough just how right Darrel was.

Eventually, Mitaka heard nothing but his own heart crying out in anguish, but he didn’t stop licking Darrel’s chest, even when he no longer felt him breathing. Only when the bleeding finally stopped did Mitaka pull his tongue back into his mouth and lift his head. He looked at Darrel’s face after moving his hand-paw away, his long ears going down when he saw the man resting in peace. Heavy tears formed in his eyes and then fell, falling on Darrel’s unmoving chest. Mitaka didn’t say a single word as he stared at his friend for hours after his preventable death.

It was almost sunrise nearly seven hours later. Out on the planet and using his hand-paws and claws, Mitaka was trying to dig a hole through the hard ground. He dragged and shoved dirt away as he made a shallow grave. Behind him a few feet away was Darrel, forever unmoving and to never breathe again. Once he was to softer soil, Mitaka got up on his feet and started digging as fast as he could, dirt flying out from under him wildly. He thought of nothing but his task at hand, and not caring that he couldn’t stop crying, even after all this time. Darrel’s death hurt just as much as Thanisson’s had, and remembering about the kind, caring man that once made him laugh to his heart’s content filled Mitaka with so much pain that he felt that he would burst.

The grave took the rest of the night to make. Even as Mitaka began to transform back, he never stopped digging, even when his nails broke and his fingers bled and started becoming raw. Not even his heavy tears that blinded him would stop him.

The sun was now up and shining bright and hot. Sobbing as he got out of his badly made and bloody hole in the ground, Mitaka shakily approached Darrel. It took all that he could muster to pick the heavy man up, turn around, and carry him to the hole. Falling to his knees seconds later, Mitaka slowly and carefully lowered Darrel inside, having to step one foot into it to avoid dropping him. He laid the man out comfortably, sat back, and then stared at his face. Trying not to hyperventilate and constantly sniffing in hard, Mitaka reached over to push Darrel’s hair off his face to get a final good look at him. The longer he stared, the more his face scrunched up as he cried harder and he could feel the dam breaking within his very soul. He soon closed his eyes tight, leaned forward, and pressed his forehead to Darrel’s chest before he began to let it all out.

Mitaka laid over Darrel well into the afternoon. He just couldn’t bear to leave him, even though he had a strong feeling that the Resistance was on its way to check on the prison. There was a high probability that surveillance had caught the transformation and the carnage and was immediately sent to another Resistance stronghold to send back-up. And more probable than not, General Organa would be among the ranks, knowing exactly who was behind this.

The sun was just a small ways behind its apex point when the sound of two terribly loud engines came from high above. Mitaka didn’t change his position, no longer caring what happened to him now. What would be the point anyway? He didn’t know how far from the First Order he was, he was a dead man laying anyway, and he had no transportation off the-

Mitaka’s eyes snapped open wide. Thinking quickly, he lifted himself off Darrel’s body a few inches, turned to the edge of the grave, and then peered up and over it to get a good look at the ships that had arrived. He saw three ships, two being large and one being kind of small. The big ones would take quite a bit of crewman to operate it, but the small one could easily be piloted by one. All Mitaka would have to do is wait for the passengers to go into the prison, sneak onto the ship, and then escape the planet before any of the Resistance knew what happened. Great plan!

Lowering himself back down, Mitaka turned to look at Darrel’s face, not sure if he wanted to leave him there and his grave uncovered, or to take him along to find a better burial ground when they landed on another planet. If Mitaka wanted to escape quickly, then he would have to leave the dead man behind. But could he live with himself if he left Darrel in such a disrespectful state?

Releasing a heavy breath, Mitaka looked over the edge of the grave again to see what was happening. The ships were open and a few people had disembarked already. Everyone was carrying some kind of weapon, but would the whole entourage be armed? Mitaka needed to know everything he could to come up with the best possible outcome of getting out of there.

It took several minutes for the crew to walk out of the ships and combine their groups to make one large one. Mitaka did a quick headcount and there were about five dozen men and women of the Resistance. Back on one of the big ships, two people emerged, one of which Mitaka knew of, and the other he had only heard about.

“Do you think he is still on the planet?”

“No, our scanners would have picked up one of our own ships taking off had that been the case. No, he is still here, probably inside the prison.”

“Do you think the First Order knows their Lieutenant is a werewolf?”

So Mitaka’s suspicions were correct. That meant the Resistance and whatever Republic may be left knew of his secret. Did that mean they would use that against the First Order?

“Aside from Snoke and the Lieutenant’s former physician, no, and we must ensure it stays that way.”

“Yes, General Organa.”

Exhaling out of his mouth, Mitaka turned around and sat down, listening intently as he waited for General Organa and Poe Dameron to lead the soldiers inside the prison. He waited ten minutes to no longer hear any voices before taking a look again. There was no one left out near the ships, but there were five or six guards near the entrance of the prison, possibly to wait for Mitaka if he was inside and came out. Luckily the facility was far enough away to make it difficult to see him rushing to the small ship, which was inconveniently in between the big ones. Taking a deep breath, Mitaka turned back to Darrel, grabbed him and lifted him up to get him draped over his shoulder, and then forced himself up out of the hole. Mitaka took a quick glance at the front of the prison before making a break for the ships.

Meanwhile, inside the prison, soldiers were ordered to spread out quietly and to look for survivors and Mitaka.

“If the Lieutenant is found, contact me with your location,” Leia spoke quietly to all of them. “Do not engage him unless he attacks. I will arrive as quickly as I can to try reasoning with him once more.”

“Yes, General,” everyone said softly in unison.

They took off in many directions at a brisk walk, keeping their weapons ready while set to stun. Leia and Poe headed for the control center of the prison, to use the prison’s surveillance cameras to search for Mitaka that way.

“How does one even deal with a werebeast?” Poe asked. “How common are they, even?”

“I do not know. Han may have been able to answer that one, though I do not know if he has ever crossed paths with any.”

Poe looked a bit disgusted as he asked, “Aren’t werebeasts just human monsters? Would he really traffic another human being?”

“Oh definitely not. Feral aliens are one thing, humans and humanoid aliens are another; Han would never support such a practice.”

“I certainly hope that’s true.”

They soon reached the control center and went straight to the computer monitors and panels. Poe took to the keyboards and began to type madly at one, while Leia watched the monitors as live feeds began to pop up quickly. The longer she watched and searched for Mitaka on them, the narrower her eyes went when he didn’t appear at all. All she saw was blood and dead bodies. It seemed not a single prison worker, guard, or criminal survived Mitaka’s rampage last night. But why? Why would he have killed the First Order detainees and sympathizers too? Nothing made much sense.

“See if you can bring up external surveillance,” Leia suggested. “If he is no longer inside, he will be on the planet itself.” Poe did what he was told, finding those camera feeds rather quickly. He did a quick sweep, but the zoom could only go so far from the prison walls. “I do not believe he would stay close to the prison. Do a scan of the entire planet; perhaps it can at least locate a foreign heart beat.”

“Yes, General.”

Going to a different keyboard and monitor, Poe typed some more and a green screen with multiple rings appeared, along with a rotating-clockwise scanner signal. Near the center, there were several blips that appeared once the signal passed over them. Poe made the signal zoom in to get a better read out. Six blips that were spread out evenly were closest to the center now, plus the ones indicating their three ships and one other, moving blip. Both of their eyes widened when they saw it close to the left ship. Quickly taking a communicator off her belt, Leia activated it to reach everyone.

“Everyone, look no further! We have located the Lieutenant! He is near the ships! Those outside, go after him and corner him until I arrive!”

Without waiting for any responses back, Leia put the comm back and then began to rush out of the control center. Poe shut everything off before going after her. Meanwhile, back outside, Mitaka was about to reach the first ship when someone shouted for him to stop. Glancing to the side, he saw the soldiers outside rushing towards his location. He growled in anger at being found out so quickly. They must have picked him up on the prison’s external surveillance cameras. Well no matter, Mitaka was rushing around the front of the ship by now and would be inside the next one in a few seconds. Luckily the hatches were still open, so he could put Darrel inside before the soldiers reached him. Then he would fight to escape.

The inside of the small ship was cool and spacious behind the cockpit. Going to the co-pilot seat, Mitaka sat Darrel in it, buckled him up, and then went to the pilot seat. He didn’t bother sitting down, rather he wanted to get the ship prepped and ready while he had a small window of time before the soldiers caught up. He could hear them just twenty feet away from the ramp. Soon the ship was ready for take-off. Turning around, Mitaka ran to one side of the opening, pressed his body against the wall to hide from view, and waited for the first armed soldier to enter. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest as he waited with bated breath. The soldiers pounding footsteps slowed and then stopped, and Mitaka wished he could see what formation they were in. Gritting his teeth to calm himself, Mitaka heard very faint boots walking up the ramp to get inside. His heart now felt like it was going to jump out of his chest as it felt like forever before he saw a glimpse of the muzzle of a blaster enter.

Mitaka waited for the hands and arms of the soldier holding the blaster to move past his hiding place, and then he struck. Quickly snatching the top of the blaster with one hand and grabbing the soldier’s forearm with the other, Mitaka shoved the blaster down hard and then jerked up with his other hand. There was a scream of agonizing pain as the radius and ulna bones snapped in half, and then Mitaka knocked the blaster out of the soldier’s weakened grip.

“Go, go, GO!”

The remaining soldiers began to run up the ramp, but were knocked back when Mitaka appeared in front of the soldier with the broken arm and kicked him away and into them. Two had been off to the sides, so they rushed forward and started firing their blasters. With his swift werewolf speed, Mitaka dodged all the bolts and then attacked the one on the right. They didn’t get the chance to fire again before he tackled into them. He then knocked them down before lifting himself up a few inches and socking them hard in the face. A blaster bolt was suddenly flying towards him, but he ducked, moved away from the fallen soldier, and then charged on all fours at the other one. By now the first soldiers were on their feet and getting their blasters ready.

“FREEZE!”

Mitaka ignored them as he pushed off the ground and aimed a perfect roundhouse kick at the muzzle of the blaster in front of him. The soldier’s body jerked to the side, exposing his ribs, and was then falling sideways after Mitaka performed another kick in that area. More bolts were fired at him, but he easily weaved in and out of them to attack the soldiers.

It took at least five minutes for Mitaka to have just one soldier left. The remaining were either knocked out or in too much pain to get up right now. At the front entrance of the prison, more Resistance, along with General Organa and Poe Dameron, rushed outside. They saw Mitaka taking down the remaining soldier that had been left outside.

“He took all six of them down by himself?!” Poe asked in disbelief. “Remind me not to tell Finn about this; he’d freak.”

While they rushed towards the ships, Mitaka smashed his foot on everyone’s faces in order to knock them out. After the last one was out, he jerked his head up and over, and saw the Resistance approaching as fast as they could. He growled at them before he turned around and ran back inside the ship.

“Lieutenant Mitaka, wait!”

Ignoring General Organa’s yell, Mitaka sat in the pilot seat, grabbed the wheel with one hand and the throttle with the other, and then began to take off. As he waited for the feet to come off the ground, he turned the surveillance feed on for the outside of the ship. Half of the Resistance fanned out to the big ships to get on, while the rest started firing at the small ship, that was still open, with their blasters, which were set to kill now. Mitaka heard them hit the ship all over, but it wouldn’t matter if they did any real damage right now or not. He was almost out of there and before he even left the atmosphere, he would hyper drive far away.

Within the next couple of minutes, Mitaka had closed the ramp, retracted the landing gear, and was getting the weapons ready. Grabbing the wheel with both hands now, he turned it to the right to face the outer ship, which was already a few inches off the ground. Mitaka then moved his hand to a joystick with a button on top and aimed the ship’s blasters for the wings. Without hesitation, he pressed and held down the button, allowing hundreds of destructive bolts to land a direct hit at the wing he was aiming for. He moved the joystick left and right gradually to hit as much of the wing as possible to destroy it and off balance the ship. He was just a few blasts away from accomplishing that when a transmission came through.

“ _Lieutenant Mitaka,_ _ **please**_ _let us_ _ **help you**_ _!”_ Gritting his teeth, Mitaka growled in anger at General Organa’s choice of words. Help? The only help he needed was light years away, and far from any Resistance forces. _“You_ _ **will**_ _see General Hux again, I-!”_ Mitaka didn’t get to hear anything more as the wing was finally destroyed with a booming sound and the large ship began to plummet. With his opening to escape appearing before him, he began to fly the ship forward and upward. He needed to be halfway to the planet’s atmosphere before activating the hyper drive. This gave Leia some time to try to convince him not to leave. _“Mitaka, we do not want anymore bloodshed! I promise that you and General Hux will-!”_

Whatever Leia was gonna say next didn’t come. Mitaka had jabbed at the receiver button to tune her out and speak in quiet rage. “Don’t make promises you can’t _fucking keep_.”

After turning the receiver back on, Mitaka ignored whatever else Leia had to say as he continued to fly the ship up and up. In just a few seconds, he could activate the hyper drive and never hear Leia’s voice again.

“… _I understand how it must feel, to be so far away from the ones you love, Mitaka. I…can feel it, your love for General Hux. To be so, far apart… It’s killing you, isn’t it? The longer you’re away, the more_ _ **empty**_ _you feel…”_ Right after Leia said this, all sound became mute to Mitaka’s ears. His angry gaze slowly began to soften to be replaced by sadness and emotional pain. He soon closed his eyes, feeling that emptiness as if it was all that was left. _“…After you have been convicted of your crimes, you could be together. I can and I_ _ **will**_ _make it happen. But you need to come back and_ _ **let**_ _**me**_ _do my_ _ **job**_ _…”_ Leia’s voice trailed off as she waited for Mitaka to respond. Gradually, his eyes began to open, his brown orbs filled with heavy tears. _“…Please come back, Mitaka. Everything will be fi-”_

“No, it never _will be_ …”

“ _Mitaka-!”_

Leia’s shout was drowned out by the “shwoom” sound of the hyper drive activating and the ship vanishing without a trace, leaving nothing but thousands of three-second lights in its wake…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: March 1


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEgE5z6Sl7Y

Out in the deep reaches of outer space, a small ship materialized out of nothing, thousands of lights that quickly winked out trailing behind it. The ship continued to fly, but at a gradual pace. Inside, sitting slumped back in the pilot seat, was Mitaka, his eyes downcast, wet, and full of pain. No sound came out of the intercom above his head, and not even the mechanical sounds of the ship filled the interior. Mitaka sat there silently for a long time, his vision now blurred since his eyes were almost closed. Then, with a deep inhale, he closed his eyes to release a long, quiet sigh.

“Hux…”

Eyes shutting tight and face screwing up within seconds, Mitaka let out a drawn out, tearful cry before he sobbed. It was like back on the observation deck of the Finalizer all over again. Hunching forward, he gripped his head tight, digging his fingers through his scraggly hair as he let all that he had been feeling for weeks out of his system again. Witnessing Dr. Ekels murdering Thanisson, being forced into three days of agonizing solitary confinement, dealing with the horrid and rancid scents and disturbing sounds of the prison, feeling the full werewolf transformation last night, and being the cause of a mass bloodshed after witnessing Darrel being shot, it was all just too much. Mitaka always believed he was strong both physically and mentally, but this month had proven him all wrong and it was killing him inside. It was just too much, it was all too much, he couldn’t _take it anymore_!

“You’ve ruined EVERY _THIIIIIIIIING_!” Whether Mitaka was talking about himself, Dr. Ekels, or the werewolf bastard that had turned him, no one would ever know. He just didn’t care anymore… “HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUX!”

Too out of his mind to stop himself, Mitaka smashed his head into the steering wheel as hard as he could, knocking himself out cold.

* * *

“ _Dopheld…”_ a faint and caring voice whispered in the dark. Slowly, wet, brown eyes opened partway, the iris and pupil trembling softly. _“I’m here; I’m right here.”_

Laying on his front in darkness, Mitaka blinked, hearing the voice as if it was a breath on the wind. “Hux…?” he inquired tiredly.

Unbeknownst to Mitaka, a figure began to materialize behind him and on his left. It was a wolf, and a big one at that, glowing with warm light. Stepping up beside him, the wolf stepped its right leg over Mitaka’s upper back, bent its legs, and then lowered itself down over top of him. Mitaka didn’t move at all, as if he couldn’t feel the wolf there, but he could feel heat engulf his entire body. He hadn’t realized how cold he had been until now…

“ _I’m here, I am_ _ **always**_ _here…”_

Tears formed and then spilled from Mitaka’s eyes as he heard those softly spoken words over and over again and all around him. And that was all he would ever hear coming from the everlasting darkness…

* * *

Unfocused and exhausted brown eyes fluttered open. Staring towards the right, Mitaka saw a blurred figure sitting in a co-pilot’s seat. For just a moment, he forgot where he was and who was with him, but then he remembered. Mitaka cast his eyes down, looking surprisingly calm despite the memories. He soon closed them again, inhaled deeply for a few seconds, and then let it out in a sigh. Lifting his head from the steering wheel of the commandeered space ship, he inhaled sharply before pushing himself back up in his seat. He then looked out the observation window to see where he possibly could be. All Mitaka saw was millions of stars and blackness.

Mitaka began to look around the cockpit, trying to figure out how to turn on a radar scanner to search for any planets close-by. He had no idea how much fuel or energy output this particular ship had, especially after hyper drive. After a good look around, he pressed a button that was next to a circular, green grid, and the glass lit up to signal turning on. Then, out of a console, a small keyboard came up with nothing but numbers and a green button. Mitaka figured he just needed to input the highest or lowest radius that he wanted the scanner to spread out to on the large, centered plus sign that indicated the X and Y axes, and then push the green button when he was ready. Simple enough.

Mitaka input five thousand kilometers, hoping that was far enough out without going too far. He just needed any planet to appear close enough to his current location in order to land safe and sound onto it. His other biggest hope was to find other humans or a city or fort or _something_ with people in it that could help him. _Preferably_ someone _not_ on the Resistance and Republic’s side.

The clockwise spinning light went once around the screen, but there was no blip. Mitaka decided to wait a few minutes before widening the search. So there he sat, staring at the spinning light that should pick up something hopefully very soon. Mitaka didn’t particularly feel like increasing the radius more than it was now. What felt like hours later, he was ready to give up and try again in an hour, but then there was a beep. Looking at the radar screen, he saw two blips in the bottom right hand corner. He breathed a sigh of relief. If he made the space ship go one hundred knots, he could reach the planet or space ship that was out there in three hours. He might as well lock on and set a course to whatever he had picked up.

After ten minutes of trying to figure out how to turn on auto-pilot and to set the overall speed and direction he wanted to go in, Mitaka relaxed back in the seat, his eyes half open and downcast. All he could hear was his breathing and the beating of his own heart in his ears. He was motionless for a long time, but then he slowly looked to the right out of the corner of his eye. Darrel was strapped in the co-pilot seat with his head hanging forward on his chest, unmoving and dead. Mitaka blinked slowly at him, trying to decide what to do about the man. Not to mention it would be nice if he could put on some clothes…

With three hours to kill, Mitaka decided to explore the rest of the space ship, search for any clothing and food, and to find the bathroom-slash-shower room. There wasn’t much, but he did find a weapons’ storage in the back and a crate full of back-up food rations and water and juices. Then there was a small room that acted as a bathroom without a shower, but no clothing. By the first hour, Mitaka had gathered some of the food and two waters and brought them to the cockpit and just sat there and waited. There was not much else he could do at this point. The ship was gradually getting closer and closer to the two blips, which Mitaka figured was a planet and its moon. Hopefully he would see them in his observation window by the second hour.

Mitaka glanced over at Darrel, his brow somewhat furrowed. He didn’t know what he expected when he looked there because Darrel was one hundred percent dead, dead, _dead_. But, a small sliver of hope that Darrel was merely unconscious was still present in his mind, despite knowing how futile it all was. Mitaka didn’t know what to do with him…

Without really thinking about it or even caring that he retrieved the item of clothing off a dead person, Mitaka was dressed in Darrel’s gray prison pants. He was currently pouring water over his head to give his gross hair a wash in one corner of the ship. The cool water running down his neck and back felt good on his very dry skin. He then returned to the cockpit to check on his radar screen.

Mitaka was fifty minutes away from whatever the scanner had picked up. Looking out the window, he was ready to see a planet, but there was none. Mitaka frowned. The radar screen showed the two blips close to the center of the radar, but he still couldn’t see a planet? Perhaps it was two idling ships instead? Mitaka sighed in irritation. If they were ships, they just had better not belong to Republic forces.

Another thirty minutes passed and Mitaka was resting in the seat. When the blips appeared again, the beep was much louder, he noticed. He looked out the window, hoping to see something now, which he did. A small smile graced his lips when he saw a fairly small planet covered in clouds and he could see some patches of earth and perhaps a small lake. He was still too far away to see it properly, but at least he knew it was there.

“We’ll find you a nice location to rest when we reach the planet,” Mitaka told Darrel as he glanced his way. “I’ll give you a proper burial this time.”

Taking a deep breath and then letting it out of his O-shaped mouth, Mitaka sat up straight, made the ship travel faster to shorten the time, and then looked for the landing gear controls on the dash. It didn’t take long to find it. Now all he had to do was wait.

* * *

A small space ship landed on wet ground near the edge of a large lake. Minutes later, the ramp lowered and someone began to emerge, carrying a heavy-looking man in their arms.

Mitaka stepped off the ramp and looked towards the lake. It was a nice, breezy, but cloudy day and the water just barely moved up against the bank. It looked peaceful enough.

Inhaling deeply, Mitaka approached the water with a pair of basic shoes on his feet. Darrel wouldn’t be missing them. Stopping close to the edge, Mitaka crouched down and carefully placed the man on the ground. He had removed his shirt on the ship, so all that was left on him was underwear. Mitaka had let him keep them to show him some dignity. Now he had to decide whether to dig another hole or let Darrel float out to sea…

“ _How are werewolves disposed of when they die, Shay?”_

“ _There are a few ways in which they bury their dead, may it be of family or friends. Many prefer setting their bodies ablaze so that the werewolf’s spirit lives on in all living things. Or their bodies are set out to sea and engulfed in flames for the same end. Then there’s the human’s way of burying them under the ground, minus a coffin of course.”_

“ _How come?”_

“ _For werewolves to be at peace in death, their souls must be able to become one with nature. A box would keep them trapped forever, and that is a fate worse than death.”_

“ _Oh… If I were to die tomorrow, how would you put me to rest?”_

“ _You will not die tomorrow.”_

“ _Well I’m determined not to, but what if I_ _ **do**_ _?”_

“Only werewolves can bury their dead.”

Finishing off his memory by saying the end out loud, Mitaka looked up at the lake, believing that floating and burning Darrel’s body was the right thing to do. All he needed was the perfect flotation device.

For the remainder of the day, Mitaka gathered tree logs to make a raft. The ship had special weapons that could cut down most anything, and there were plenty of trees surrounding the lake, so it was his best plan. He also took strips of bark off in order to make rope for tying the logs together. It was soon dark by the time he made rope, so he set up a campfire, tied the bark strips together, and then took the remainder of the night off. Tomorrow early morning, right as the sun rose from the lake’s horizon, he would finish and place Darrel on the raft, set his body on fire, and then gently push him out towards the center of the lake. Mitaka just had to survive the night on an unknown and possibly uncharted planet first.

After a quick dinner with his food rations and water, Mitaka stayed close to his campfire, having his arms wrapped around him. It was fairly cold outside now, so it was either almost winter or spring here. Mitaka certainly hoped it was the latter.

Mitaka had trouble sleeping the rest of the night. He kept waking up from nightmares that had some semblance of truth to them. The first one was Mitaka encountering a werewolf, in which he killed. He had no idea if it was the werewolf that had turned him or some random one, but it didn’t matter really, so long as it was dead. Mitaka was very determined never to meet another turned-by-someone-else werewolf in his life. In the second one, he was falling from a great height that never seemed to end and eventually he felt like he was merely floating in nothingness. Then the others were of men and women Mitaka knew that were killed by other people, like Dr. Ekels killing Thanisson for example, dying all over again in his mind. Then the last one, that kept Mitaka awake now, was Starkiller self-destructing while he, Hux, and Ren were still on it. It had been so vividly detailed that he woke up with a harsh start. He was having trouble breathing at the moment due to sudden fear as well.

By the time Mitaka’s breathing and heartbeat were back to normal, the sounds of birds and early risers began to fill the sky. It would be at least forty minutes before the sun came up, which gave Mitaka enough time to tie the logs together and get Darrel ready for send off. Although the man wasn’t a werewolf himself, he was a great friend and Mitaka wanted to honor him by giving him a proper burial. He owed Darrel that much; he _was_ dead because of him.

An hour later, after the raft was done and he gathered fire-making items to set around Darrel’s body, Mitaka was ready. He dragged the raft closer to the water, went back to the dead campfire, picked up Darrel in his arms, and then returned, laying the man down in the middle of the raft. He then tucked the moss and leaves and tree branches underneath every inch of his body. Once Mitaka was satisfied with the result, he got kindling ready and started bashing two rocks together to make sparks. In just a few tries, he got it started, blew on it to make it catch, and then went to another spot to do the same thing.

It took a minute or so to get the perimeter of Darrel’s body lit with fire and it began to cover him gradually. Mitaka waited a few minutes to make sure the flames would burn his body correctly before pushing the raft into the lake. He waded into the water until it reached his thighs before shoving the raft as hard as he could towards the center of the lake. Staying there, Mitaka watched as it floated away very slowly, his eyelids lowered as he watched his short-lived friend become one with the earth and sky. Not long later, tears formed and then silently fell down Mitaka’s cheeks, wishing he could have done much, _much_ more.

Mitaka stood in the water for five minutes before turning around and wading back towards the bank. Once it was just his feet in the water, waves crashed into the ground and he stepped up onto the low ledge, getting the ground soaked. Without a look back at the roaring flames licking away at Darrel’s body, Mitaka walked away with his head down, feeling lonelier now more than ever…

* * *

It seemed like forever ago that Mitaka had escaped the Resistance prison that Dr. Ekels had sold him out to, but it was actually only one week. He had no set destination in mind, nor did he really think much of anything as he traveled along his miles-long path. He hadn’t even bothered taking some food rations and water from the space ship he had abandoned seven days back along for the trip. The only thing guiding him to kriff knows where were his feet at this point. Hopefully when he grew weary enough, he would start giving a damn about something.

It was now nearing nightfall on the eighth day. Mitaka had been walking all day and he was getting tired and feeling weak in the legs and feet. Sighing tiredly, he turned on his heel and sat down in front of some trees, staring at the ground. His almost closed eyes were full of loneliness and there was a heavy ache in his chest that kept getting worse and worse each day. If he didn't find company soon, he feared he would break.

“AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Perking up, Mitaka jerked his head to the right to look around the trees at the woods behind him. He sniffed the air, catching the scent of large, feral wolves in a medium-sized pack half a mile away. Feeling something flare up in his chest all of a sudden, Mitaka stood up, turned in the direction of the howls, and started sprinting through the crowded trees of the forest. He ran for a good few minutes before he could see rays of light coming from a clearing. He reached some bushes, shoving his way through them, and ran forward a few more feet before stopping. His eyes widened as he saw at least fifteen wolves in a large clearing. Where most of the pack was, there was a large, dead animal that was covered in brown fur and had hand-like rack of antlers on its head. This was remarkable! Swallowing, Mitaka took a cautionary step forward, stepping on a crumpled leaf. He froze in surprise and the wolves closest to him turned to him in alertness. Mitaka swallowed hard as they growled threateningly at him.

“It's a human,” one muttered to her companion.

Near the center, an older-looking wolf stepped through, baring his full fangs at Mitaka. Wanting to show the pack that he meant them no harm, Mitaka got to his knees and lowered his head to the ground in submission.

“Please, I don’t wish to hurt you! I am alone, and I have been for a long time now. I…I’m all alone, I promise…”

Somehow, the wolves understood every word he said. This surprised many of them. The wolf in front relaxed slightly, noting the sad tone. “We can understand each other, somehow.” The wolf then sniffed in Mitaka’s direction. He continued to keep his head on the ground as he waited for the wolf’s decision on what to do with him. Gradually, the wolf’s lips lowered back over his fangs. “I know what you are.” Mitaka froze again, worried that the wolf would become hostile again. “You are a werewolf; part human, part wolf. Please, up.” Releasing a sigh of relief, Mitaka lifted his head, sitting back on his heels. The wolf moved closer to him, looking sincere. “So you are all alone, you said?”

Mitaka nodded. “Yes sir.”

The wolf laughed softly. “You need not call me that, young one. You may call me Karn.”

“Sorry, it is a habit, sir.”

Karn appeared amused now. He then turned to the rest of the pack. “At ease, brothers and sisters. This young lad is a werewolf. We are kin.” The wolves relaxed. Karn turned back to Mitaka, who felt much better. “And what do we call you?”

Mitaka smiled, just glad that he finally found company. “My name is Dopheld Mitaka. A week ago, I escaped humans that wished me harm. I…have been alone ever since. I never expected to hear your howls, but I am very glad I did.”

Karn smiled. “We had just completed a successful hunt, so you were very lucky to be around. There is plenty of fresh blood for you to join us, Dopheld Mitaka.”

Smiling, Mitaka stood up. “Thank you, Karn. You may call me Dopheld or Mitaka.”

“Then come, Dopheld,” Karn said. “We shall feast.”

Mitaka glanced at the other wolves. “Your pack won’t mind?”

“There are no Alphas, Betas, or Omegas here, Dopheld,” Karn explained. “The pack belongs to us all. And of course they will not mind. You are one of us.”

Mitaka felt a sense of belonging at hearing this. “Thank you…”

Karn led the way to the kill the pack had caught. Mitaka recognized it as a large moose. His mouth began to water from hunger. When Karn arrived, the wolves began to tear at the body with claws and teeth and fangs. They took turns grabbing their own load of fresh meat for themselves before finding a place to devour it. Mitaka felt a bit shy, so he waited for the others to grab what all they wanted before stepping up to the moose’s side. He shoved his now clawed hands into the large hole that had been made by the wolves, pulling and tearing away a good chunk of meat. He then found Karn off to the side, sitting down next to him and placing the meat on the ground. Although he wasn’t much of a fan of raw meat, Mitaka could handle it thanks to the werewolf gene. He couldn’t help but eat greedily at what he had. Karn noticed this right away.

“Do you not know how to hunt, Dopheld?” Mitaka shook his head to answer. “No wonder you are starving. Funny, but I thought werewolves could turn into feral forms under normal circumstances.”

Mitaka jerked his head around to look at Karn, his eyes wide in surprise. He pulled the meat from his bloody mouth. “Do they?!”

“From what my father and grandfather once told me, yes. Did the werewolf that turned you not tell you that?”

Mitaka was dumbstruck at the answer and Karn’s question. Looking down at the meat in his hands, he closed his agape mouth, swallowed, and shook his head. “No, it didn’t…”

Karn blinked at Mitaka as he went back to eating. Looking away, the elder wolf continued to eat his own half pound of meat in silence. The pack did the same thing, some going back for seconds. Once some of the adults finished, they helped the pups, who were waiting very patiently for the adults to finish, with their own meal. Minutes passed before Mitaka was done and he rubbed his hands on the grass to help get rid of the blood from them. Hearing the pups yipping happily, he looked over and saw their fat butts wiggling as they attacked a large chunk of meat. If Mitaka had wolf ears on his head, they would be hanging back. For some reason he felt a sense of longing as he saw how happy and content these wolves were. They were like a giant family, just like-

Quickly looking away, Mitaka stood up and stretched before heading off. “I am going to wash up before sleep.”

“We will be waiting for you,” Karn stated. Mitaka didn’t say anything as he left the clearing. Karn watched him go, sensing his sadness. “Please be alright, Dopheld.”

Looking away and down, Karn continued with his last remnants of dinner as he waited for Mitaka’s return.

* * *

A week and a couple of days came and went since Mitaka found the wolf pack. They had moved on to their usual grounds a day after Mitaka joined them. It was a beautiful area with lots of open space and a few hills. Surrounding them for miles was the forests and there was a stream not too far to the south. For the first few days, Mitaka felt more at ease than he had in a long time. He hadn’t realized just how lonely he was after escaping the Resistance prison until he was surrounded by over a dozen wolves. It took them a while to warm up to him since they saw a human rather than a wolf, but they were friendlier now and Mitaka was allowed to take care of the pups when their parents left to hunt. He would roll around with them and shove them over with his hands during play. They had wolf piled him a few times during such festivities. It actually made Mitaka happy. And yet, he still felt that terrible ache in his chest all the time, despite not being alone anymore.

Later on the third day of week two, Karn scanned the pack and noticed someone missing. It was time to go out for a shared hunt, but they needed everyone that didn’t include the pups or their caretakers to go. Turning towards the hills, he sniffed the air and caught the scent he was looking for. Going to the bottom of one hill, he looked upward, staring up at Mitaka, who was at the top by himself, sitting with his hands between his legs. Karn sensed his ever growing depression very clearly right now, thanks to the wind carrying his scent. He started up the hill to find out what was wrong.

In his hands, Mitaka was rolling his rank cylinder between his fingers. Even after all this time, he hadn’t let it go and it had been in his pant’s pocket since his arrival. He was staring across the field to the forest absentmindedly. Karn soon came up behind him, standing two feet away. The wolf’s ears were back and a weak whine came from him.

“What is the matter, Dopheld?” Mitaka didn’t answer. “You are sad.” It was a statement, not a question. Exhaling from his nose, Karn came up on Mitaka’s left and sat down, staring at the distance with him. “You have been fully accepted within the pack, and yet you are very grievous. Do you not accept us in return?” There was a long pause before Mitaka shook his head. Karn blinked. “So you are sad for a different reason. Then what is it? Perhaps the pack and I could help you if you told us your plight.”

There was another long pause. Exhaling with his mouth, Mitaka grabbed the cylinder with his right hand, gently laid it on the ground between his feet, and then lightly pushed it, allowing it to roll down the hill and out of sight. They both watched it disappear before Mitaka answered Karn.

“Unless you have a space ship in working condition, there is nothing more you can do for me than what you already have.”

There was an awkward silence as Karn looked at him. “What’s a “ _space_ , ship”?”

Mitaka sighed. “It is nothing, Karn; just wishful thinking.” They were silent for a long time again. Mitaka looked at Karn minutes later, looking thoughtful. “Do you have a mate, Karn?” he asked softly.

“Once, a few years ago when I was more spry.” Karn tilted his head in curiosity at Mitaka. “Do you?” Karn sensed Mitaka’s sadness grow at this. He whined in sympathy. “What happened to her?”

Lifting his hands, Mitaka stared at them with anguished eyes. “Him. And I lost him, a very long time ago…”

Without warning, tears streamed down Mitaka’s face. Karn whined before licking the left ones away to comfort him. Immediately, Mitaka turned to wrap his arms around Karn’s fluffy neck. The older wolf rested his muzzle down on his shoulder, pressing their heads together in comfort. Mitaka cried heavily and hard for a long time, his grip tightening as his body shook. Eyes full of tears, he stared off to the side, seeing the gorgeous blue sky, but unable to see the beauty in it at all. Somewhere out there, someone was missing him too; he felt it so heavily within his very being that it hurt _so much_. But would Mitaka ever see him again? Or would they forever be far apart?

“You will be together again some day, Dopheld,” Karn said quietly in Mitaka’s ear. He closed his eyes tight, sharing in Mitaka’s pain. “I know you will…”

Sobbing, Mitaka closed his eyes and continued to cry, feeling nothing but loneliness and despair…

* * *

“What is troubling you this day, Dopheld? You look…ill.”

It was a sunny, but fairly cold day. Mitaka was used to the cold, being a werewolf and all, but his entire body couldn’t stop shaking. Karn was worried about him and his health.

“I’m…t-to change into a w-werewolf tonight. I d-do…t-tend to look r-ragged, b-but n-never like this. I think it h-has to do with my…mate being so f-far a-away…”

Karn licked Mitaka in the face. “Yes, I have seen how difficult losing your spiritual other can be. My father was very upset and distant after my mother passed away six years ago. Love works in mysterious ways.”

Teeth chattering, Mitaka wrapped his arms tighter around himself and leaned forward almost all the way to the ground. “This’ll be my…s-second trans…formation without him.”

“…Is there anything I can do for you this evening, to make you more comfortable?” Karn asked a few minutes later after a wolf spoke to him about something.

Mitaka shook his head. “No, I just…n-need everyone to stay away from me while it happens.”

“The pack and I will relocate to our hunting grounds tonight, so that you may stay here. Perhaps you will feel more at ease on top of your hill.”

“Th-That was my plan.”

For the remainder of the daylight hours, Karn stayed close to Mitaka in case something drastic happened to him before his transformation. He certainly hoped Mitaka could handle it. Karn had no clue how painful they were since he wasn’t a werewolf.

“If you need anything tonight, you know where to find me,” Karn told Mitaka on top of his favorite hill thirty minutes before the transformation. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

Mitaka’s body was still shaking badly as he tried getting his pants and shoes off. “Y-Yeah, I’ll…b-be f-fine.”

Karn’s ears went back. “You are a very bad liar, Dopheld.”

Mitaka just laughed bitterly at this as he shoved his pants and shoes away. “I will…s-see you in th-the morning.”

Karn gave Mitaka a quick lick on the face before turning around and heading back down the hill. The pack had already set off for their temporary sleeping spot without him, so he needed to catch up. When he was partway down, he glanced back at Mitaka, who was laying down on his side.

“I will pray for your suffering to end quickly, my child,” Karn said quietly to himself before continuing on his way.

Back up on the hill, Mitaka was curled up into a tight ball, his eyes closed so tight he could see swirls of colors within his mind’s eye. Already he could feel the pain coming, even before the fire erupted in his belly. This was gonna be one _hell_ of a night.

* * *

The sounds of soft, weak, and loud whimpering and soft and long howls filled the night air. Up on a hill was a massive and long form laying on its side, covered all in sleek, black fur. The whimpers came from it, nearly alerting a wolf pack far away. Leaning sitting up against a tree near the start of the hunting grounds, Karn stared ahead of him at the ground with half open eyes. A soft whine escaped him when he heard the sad howling echo across the dark sky. Something suddenly pelted him on the top of the head. Blinking, Karn looked up and was immediately hit in the eye by a water droplet. His eyes widened slightly when more began to fall. Soon his ears went down all the way and a look of sadness appeared in his eyes and on his face.

“Dopheld, I’m so sorry…”

The rain came pouring down within minutes. Back on the hill, the rain had arrived and was hitting the mass of black fur that was Mitaka all over. A quiet and long whine came from him as he was soaked to the flesh. From his almost closed eyes, tears mixed in with the rain as they traveled down his upset face. He stared off into the darkness, crying out for the only one who ever truly loved him for all that he was.

_Mitaka…_

“Hrh…hrgh, arooooo…” As the voice trailed away from his mind, Mitaka’s eyes slowly began to close. “Rooooooo…”

As Mitaka drifted off into a pain- and despair-filled sleep, the sad song of a wolf echoed all throughout the night…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: March 10


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scene change!

A loud and obnoxious yawn filled the air and pale arms stretched out as high as they could go. Over on a bench that doubled as a bed that stretched part of the length of the inside of a small travel ship, ice blue eyes opened in an annoyed glare.

“Ren, must you _really_ do that?”

Kylo Ren of the First Order and leader of the Knights of Ren lowered his arms to arm rests before flipping a switch and then standing up from a black seat with a high backing. The ship was flying on its own now, thanks to the use of auto-pilot. He walked around the cockpit to enter the walkway that led from the front of the ship to the back.

“You need to learn to relax once in a while, Hux,” the black-haired man said. Going to a cupboard of the ship’s kitchen, Ren reached in and pulled out a silver packet. He tore it on one end, showing a hard pastry sticking up from the packaging. He took a hefty bite of it before chowing down. “I mean, when was the last time you even cracked a smile, huh?”

Hux scowled at him. “You know exactly when, you prick.”

Turning, Ren went to the two-person kitchen table and sat down, taking the remainder of the wrapper off. “Oh come on, Hux, let’s not get all worked up over nothing. We’re still stuck with each other, remember?”

“Clearly I misjudged the severity of the situation when I decided to go on this desperate mission with you!”

Ren snorted. “We wouldn’t even be here right now if it wasn’t for me. You should be grateful to my services.” He plopped the remainder of the pastry into his mouth before eating it and swallowing. Hux just jerked his head to the side, looking peeved. They went silent for a while. Ren shook any crumbs from the wrapper that he may have missed into his mouth before standing to throw it away. He then filled a cup with water. “Believe me, Hux, I don’t want to be with your sour ass either, but if we want to find Mitaka and bring him back to the First Order, then we need to deal with each other.” Ren threw back his drink before setting the glass in the sink and then turning to face Hux again. “Believe it or not, I miss him too.”

Hux snorted, not looking at him. “No you don’t…”

A tense silence filled the ship. Ren blinked a few times at Hux before turning to the back and walking towards it. “I’ll be in the shower.”

Hux didn’t say anything. Ren entered the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind him. The water came rushing on twenty seconds later and then the rest of the ship was silent. Nothing moved, nothing stirred.

In the shower, Ren was hunched over slightly under the hard, hot stream, his curly hair straightening enough to hang over most angles of his face. His right hand was pressed against the wall in front of him for balance. He stared at the tiled floor with narrowed eyes. Hux’s last words still rang in his head, upsetting him more than it should have. The ginger was wrong though. Ren missed Mitaka too. He still felt his own ache in his chest…

Ren’s eyes snapped open wide when he felt something hard press into his upper back, in between his shoulder blades.

“I’m sorry…”

Ren inhaled the hot steam deeply before letting it out in a long sigh. “Yeah, I know.”

Hux and Ren stayed in the shower that way even long after the water turned cold…

* * *

“Are you certain you don’t want your pain taken away this time?”

At the kitchen table on the transformation night, Hux was looking through his datapad’s messages from the First Order. He had been keeping tabs on progress the entire trip thus far, but he was concentrating far more today because he was feeling quite miserable due to it nearing the time for transforming.

“If Mitaka has to suffer, then I will suffer along with him,” Hux answered Ren, not looking away from the screen.

Ren snorted softly, but didn’t argue. He soon frowned slightly when he saw that Hux’s face was flushed red. Taking his glove off his right hand, he quickly slapped his full hand to Hux’s forehead and half over his eyes. Hux tensed up slightly in surprise, but then he relaxed, scowling.

“You’re burning up.”

Grumbling under his breath, Hux shoved Ren’s hand off. “Yes, thank you for that assessment, you overbearing mother hen.”

“Snoke forbid I have _nurturing_ _feelings_ for other people, Hux.”

Hux snorted but continued going through his messages. These last couple of months for the First Order had gone fairly well. The newly enhanced armor and more powerful weapons had all been made and the training to properly handle those weapons was far ahead of schedule. By the time Hux and Ren returned, and hopefully with Mitaka in tow, they could be ready to start making all new plans to taking on the Resistance.

“Anything new happening over there?” Ren asked a minute later.

“Yes, training with the new weapons is nearly complete. Captain Phasma, Colonel Datoo, and others have been keeping me well informed.”

“Any word from Snoke?”

“No.”

“I’m somewhat surprised by that, to be honest.”

Hux glanced at Ren. “And why is that?”

“He would want to know of my training progress, for starters. The fact he hasn’t asked about me just surprises me, that’s all.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t care.”

Ren’s brow furrowed. “That’s not true. Like you and Mitaka, we have a unique bond. I am aware he doesn’t share the same sentiment the two of you have, but he wants me to succeed. Why else would he have kept encouraging me to train?”

Hux stared blankly at Ren while contemplating whether to tell the Knight his opinion on Snoke’s motives or not. Perhaps Ren already knew it, but all Snoke cared about was using him for galaxy domination. Mitaka had been recruited and kept around because he was a werewolf, not because of his personality, which in many ways was innocent, so the same could be said for Kylo Ren. Snoke didn’t care about any of that. He was no longer capable of feeling love for anyone. Hux started realizing how much he was caring about that…

“Perhaps he knows you are doing just fine,” he finally said. “There is no logical point in checking up on you if he knows already.”

“I suppose…”

Looking back at his datapad, Hux typed up a quick message to Phasma while saying, “I need to get ready. I will transform on the observation deck, while you stay down here. Then two hours after, you can come up and I will train with you.”

Ren knew Hux was hiding something from him—he didn’t need the Force or to read Hux’s mind to know—but he figured it was best for it to be left in the General’s head. There were far more important things to worry about than Snoke’s rejections of him.

“I will see you in about three hours, then.”

Nodding, Hux sent off his message, waited for it to go through, and then turned off the datapad while setting it on the table. He then stood up, heading for the shower room to take a lukewarm shower, like he had done for the previous month. Ren watched him go without a word before standing and getting something to eat.

It was now ten minutes until Hux’s transformation began. He had been feeling quite ill the closer it was to the time, but he managed not to throw up. All he really felt was heat all over his body as the fever continued to spread through him. Hux hoped it would be gone by the time he was a full werewolf.

“ _I’m here if you need me.”_

Hux blinked at Ren’s tone of voice in his head. He could not fully grasp why the Knight cared so much…

‘ _I know.’_

Seconds later, and the excruciating pain, along with snarls and howls of that pain, came, making Hux black out long before it even began.

* * *

That transformation had, by far, been the _worst_ one Hux ever had to experience. Due to his fever, which was gone now, transforming had been a hundred times worse and that pain had lingered long after he came out of unconsciousness. When he did, Ren was there, sitting beside him without a word and petting his head. Strangely enough, Hux was grateful for that.

It was now several nights later and Hux was sitting on the observation deck, staring up at the stars. He knew it was stupid and impossible, but he made himself count every star he saw. His carrot top hair was messy around his forehead and ears since he didn’t bother combing it after his shower that evening. He and Ren had just finished a meager dinner of dehydrated food rations that grew into full meals when just a few droplets of water touched them. They weren’t the greatest tasting foods in the galaxy, but it would have to do.

The door behind Hux slid open and Kylo Ren walked out. He was in basic sleep wear for bed that night. With a weird noise, Ren sat down next to Hux, dropping the rest of the way as he stretched out his legs. He glanced at the ginger before leaning back on his arms and staring up at the blackness and stars.

“We can’t keep doing this forever, Hux. You know that, right?” Hux didn’t respond. He was still counting the stars. Ren glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, seeing the total concentration on his face. “It could take us years to even get a single _trace_ of him. Snoke wouldn’t give us the time of day.”

Still counting, Hux laid out on his back, resting his arms under the back of his head. Ren looked at him silently for a moment before sitting up and swinging his leg over Hux’s body to get in his way. Hux glared at him when he lost count.

“Get off me.”

Ren looked at him despairingly, almost as much as Hux was feeling. “Hux, you’re the General of Snoke’s armies. You can’t skirt your duties for much longer. You will just have to appoint a new Lieutenant-”

“No.”

Ren’s shoulders slumped at the angry look on Hux’s face. “I’m sorry, Hux, but some day soon you have to forget about him-”

Ren barely got the last word out before Hux pushed himself up and then shoved Ren away by slamming his hands into his shoulders. The Knight fell over and onto his side. Hux was gritting his teeth so hard that they were grinding as he growled angrily.

“Shut up! Don’t ever say that! After all we’ve been through, I could _never_ forget Mitaka! He gave my life more meaning than just wanting kriffing _power_!”

Pushing himself up, Ren shook his head before beginning to look at Hux, saying, “I know that, Hux, but-” He stopped, his eyes widening when he saw what the man was doing. “Hux…”

Hot tears were streaming down Hux’s face as he continued to glare hard at Ren. “Just shut up Ren! You will never understand! How could you?! You don’t love _anyone_! You are nothing but a whiny, crying _bitch_ and that’s all you ever will be-!”

Suddenly exploding, Ren practically threw himself at Hux, slamming his hands into his shoulders and knocking them both over. They began to wrestle and roll on the floor of the observation deck, both trying to get the upper hand. They clawed and shoved and just fought like children like there was no tomorrow. It was all they could do since they didn’t have any weapons on them and Ren was too distracted to use the Force. Getting on top of him eventually, Ren socked Hux in the face, forcing his head to turn fast and hard. At the same time, the ginger had kicked him hard in the crotch, making Ren’s stomach go all the way into his throat. With a harsh gagging sound, Ren rolled off Hux and curled up in pain. Both men laid there, dealing with their painful injuries at the same time. Hux sported a bloody nose.

“Y-You… _dick_ …!” Ren wheezed out as he wrapped his arms tight around his stomach. He growled as he curled up tight. “That was a…d-dirty trick!”

Placing his finger on his clean nostril, Hux snorted hard, forcing blood from his nose. It splattered the floor in a small pool. “It was…a r-reflex…” He then wiped his nose with the back of his arm, smearing it with blood. “Great, now I need another shower. Thanks a lot.”

Once the pain passed, Ren sat up, glaring at Hux. “You’re a kriffing asshole, you know that?! Do you honestly think I don’t give a shit?! I wouldn’t have offered the mission in the kriffing _first place_ if it meant I didn’t care! But I am trying to be realistic! Snoke won’t _let us_ stay out here forever! He was even reluctant to let us go at all!” Standing up, Ren turned and headed back for the door into the ship. “We can’t stay out in space for a few months, let alone a few years, when there’s more important shit to worry about.” Stopping within the open doorway, Ren glared at Hux, who was back to sitting on the floor. This time, his knees were drawn to his chest as he hugged them tightly. “Mitaka can survive without you, Hux, so why can’t you survive without him?”

Without waiting for a look or response, Ren walked inside, the door sliding closed behind him. Hux was glaring at the floor, not wanting to listen to him, but that special part of his brain told him the exact same thing. Ruling the galaxy was the most important thing to Hux and a small setback like losing Mitaka shouldn’t get in his way. Mitaka would want him to go on with the First Order’s plans without him anyway. Right?

Hux stayed on the observation deck for a long time after that, but he was getting tired now. Without a sound, he returned to the inside of the ship, drank a quick glass of water, washed his face with hot water, and then went into the double-bed bedroom that he and Ren had been sharing since the day they started their search. The Knight was already in his bed to the right of the door, his back to the room as he laid curled up on his side. The bedspread was up to his waist, showing off his bare chest and thick, scraggly black hair. Not giving him a second glance, Hux sat on his bed, removed his short sleeve shirt, and then laid curled up on his side, his back also facing the room. An unsettling silence was heavy within the room and it made the place feel stuffy. Neither occupants moved, nor said a word for what felt like hours, but then-

“Despite who you think I am, Hux,” Ren began softly, “you are wrong about one thing.” Hux didn’t say anything, but he was listening despite himself. “I do love someone. Despite killing my father, I still love him, _and_ my mother. So I get it. I get it far more than you will _ever_ know…”

Kylo Ren didn’t say anything else after that. Hux had his hands under his head as he stared at the wall a few feet from his bed. His eyes were full of despair and emotional pain. Closing them, he cried himself to sleep, dreaming about Mitaka all through the night.

* * *

A whole week passed since that depressing night. Ren and Hux had to stop for supplies yesterday on a non-sophisticated planet, meaning no one there knew about the First Order or the Resistance war. So they had been able to stop without complications. Hux was currently keeping an eye on the ship’s course and control panel while the ship ran on auto-pilot. Ren was on the observation deck, training with his lightsabers and exercising to keep in shape. They hadn’t had any spare hologram simulations since the destruction of Starkiller Base, so he had to make due with his imagination.

In the pilot’s chair, Hux was leaned back with his arms folded over his chest and his eyes were closed as he rested. A bottle of very strong alcohol was in the small tray container that was in between both cockpit seats. Hux was almost drifting off to sleep when something sounded a small jingle half a foot to his right. There was a two second pause before the jingle came again. Then it happened again, and again, and again, and-

Sighing in annoyance, Hux opened his eyes, leaned forward a bit, and then lowered his arms, looking at a screen with electronic wording on it. He blinked at it, not really noticing what the words were saying at first, but then his eyes widened. Mouth gaping open, he slammed his hand on the side of the screen, watching the words flash on screen again. Hux was speechless, but he started laughing strangely.

“Ha, ha-ha…! R-Ren! REN! HA-HAAAA!” Moving his hand to the control panel a few feet from the screen, Hux began typing wildly at the keyboard, a bigger and bigger grin forming on his face as he could barely contain his excitement. Seconds after hitting GO, a radar screen appeared on the large observation window of the ship. As he made the camera zoom in on the flashing green light, Hux turned on the intercom. “Ren, get down here! Get down here _quick_!”

Hux turned the intercom off before Ren could respond and then continued typing away at the keyboard with one hand. The radar screen continued to zoom in until it showed right below the atmosphere of a woodsy terrain of a small planet. Somewhere, a beacon signal was flashing at Hux and he was laughing uncontrollably in both relief and disbelief. Seconds later, Ren finally appeared in the hallway, looking annoyed. When he heard Hux laughing, he thought he had finally snapped and gone to crazy town.

“Hux, you cracking under pressure does _not_ put me _or_ the First Order in a good position.” Stopping within the cockpit, Ren leaned forward, using the co-pilot chair backing for balance as he stared at the window. “What, is _that_?” Finally putting himself under control for the most part, Hux typed in a new code and a rectangular box with a forty-five degree angle pointer appeared. Ren’s eyes widened when he saw the name listed in it. “How the _hell_ -?”

The name Lt. D. Mitaka was listed in the box with a huge number underneath. Hux was practically grinning from ear to ear as he stared at it.

“It’s _him_ , Ren…”

It took Ren a moment to recover and become the voice of reason. “Hux, this doesn’t exactly mean its-”

“Don’t finish that or so _help me_!” Typing at the keyboard again, the radar moved to the corner of the window and Hux and Ren could barely make out the small planet up ahead. It was at least two hours away, but at least it was a sign. Hux now felt very numb. He knew the possibilities of Mitaka actually being there was slim to none, but at least there was _hope_! “…We are going to that damn planet, Ren. I am not going to take any chances at possibly missing him.”

Hux didn’t look at Ren. He kept his eyes on that speck of planet through the windshield, feeling something building up deep within his being. This was most definitely it; the day he had been waiting for for so long. He could just feel it…

Ren didn’t know if he should be encouraging this, but he hadn’t seen Hux this hopeful before, so he figured he had no choice in the matter. Sighing, he moved past the middle console and sat in the co-pilot’s chair.

“Well let’s not wait two hours to get there,” he said, buckling up. Hux looked at him in surprise. There was a long pause as Ren stared out the window. “Well come on, captain, fly this hunk of junk to that planet already. And do it quickly, before I change my mind…”

Hux snorted behind a small smirk. “Yes sir.”

“Never call me that again.”

After putting on his seat belt, Hux changed some flight settings and increased the throttle to pick up speed. He locked on to the area closest to the beacon to get a proper destination landing time of an hour and ten minutes. It wasn’t a lot of time, but for Hux, it would feel like a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Update:** March 15


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Thousand Years by Christina Perri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxNllYdEleQ

After a long hour and five minutes, Hux and Ren’s ship finally reached the planet and was now descending through the atmosphere. The beacon for Mitaka’s signal was getting stronger now, giving Hux even more hope than he could ever imagine. To pass the time, they checked to make sure the planet was breathable. Hux then transferred Mitaka’s signal to his datapad. As he stared at the medium screen, he couldn’t help but feel anxious and a little uncertain about the decision they had made to come here. This beacon didn’t necessarily mean Mitaka was on this planet, it could just mean something of his had gotten here somehow. Or it could mean he had been here but no longer was. There were so many possibilities of what this signal could mean that it overwhelmed Hux. A sudden jolt on his shoulder made him jump in fright.

“Relax, Hux, kriff.” Hux glared at Ren briefly before looking back at his controls. It was now time to deploy the landing gear, which Ren had to do. Two minutes later and they touched down, the engines rocking the surrounding trees. Once they no longer moved, Hux turned off the engine and then they stared out the window in silence. Hux’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest. “Well, we’re here.”

“Yeah…”

Ren glanced at Hux, who seemed apprehensive. “Then what are you waiting for? Get out there and find that signal. I’ll be right behind you after I finish getting dressed.” Nodding, Hux took off his seat belt, went to the sink to drink some cold water and to splash his face, and then moved to the hatch on the side. Ren came out of the cockpit, looking at him. “And Hux?”

Stopping to wait for the door to open, Hux looked back in. “What?”

Ren gave an encouraging nod. “Just don’t give up hoping.”

Nodding, Hux took a deep breath, looked ahead, and then left the ship. He walked a few feet away before taking out his datapad and finding out which direction he needed to go. Looking a little to the right, he saw a bunch of trees close together. He faced that direction before going where the signal told him to go. Once he was confident in his stride and sense of direction, he turned the screen off, pocketed the pad, and then continued on in silence.

For the next ten or so minutes, Hux walked on in silence, sniffing the air every few seconds to catch a whiff of Mitaka’s scent. It was almost non-existent, but it was there. This made Hux more hopeful, but also very nervous. All this could mean was that Mitaka had been here but was now gone, maybe captured, or he found a way off the planet on his own. The name of this planet was unknown to the First Order, so there was a good chance that it was undiscovered by the Republic or Resistance too. Hux decided not to jump to conclusions, no matter how difficult it was.

Hux was aware Kylo Ren was at least five minutes behind him, but he continued to keep his eye on the direction he was going. By now they were twenty minutes from the ship and the forest was getting more dense. The weather wasn’t very ideal for walking to god knows where, but they had no other choice in the matter. The ship was now thirty minutes behind them and the trees started to thin out. The strong feeling within Hux’s chest was getting worse and he could feel his heart rate elevating rapidly. The scent he had picked up before was getting a little stronger each minute as well. Hux hoped these feelings were good ones.

Meanwhile, Ren was working on catching up to Hux. He could barely make him out in the distance, but he knew he was going the right way. A while later, his head perked up some when he saw Hux jog out of the thicket of trees far ahead. Ren picked up his pace slightly, feeling something growing within his own chest. He didn’t get nervous often, but that feeling was very overwhelming now. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Ren _really_ hoped it was the former.

In a clearing, just a few yards from the start of a hill, Hux’s boots slowed to a hesitant walk. Just a few feet away, he saw an unknown object laying on the ground. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to reach it faster. He soon stopped right before it, feeling his heart pulse uncomfortably. He crouched down, reaching a gloved hand for a small, cylindrical tube. Holding it with both sets of fingers, he rotated it to examine it closely, thinking he recognized it, but not remembering from where. When it finally hit him, his blue eyes widened.

Hux’s head shot up towards the top of the hill. He took a deep inhale, catching an all too familiar scent. His mouth dropped open as he felt something burst in his chest. Standing back up and throwing the tube aside, Hux ran up the hill as fast as he could, feeling his heart racing. Deep in his belly, he knew he had finally found him. He had found Mitaka!

As he ran up the hill, Ren came out of the woods and saw Hux running. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tube, recognizing it far faster than Hux had. Smiling, he walked over to it, picked it up, and then pocketed it before taking out his lightsaber hilt. He then followed after Hux, interested to know what they would find once they both reached the top of the hill.

Hux reached the top of the hill seconds later, slightly out of breath. He stopped to look out at the clearing at the bottom of the hill, amazed at what he saw. There was a ton of normal, feral wolves here. It was remarkable, seeing so many. Hux scanned the large pack quickly, laying eyes on a small group far away. They widened in shock, tears forming along the rims. Without a shout or word of warning, Hux started running down the hill right as an older looking wolf caught his acid rain scent.

Karn of the wolf pack saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw Hux running towards them. Fear bubbled inside of him. Jerking his head around, he looked to where the pups were playing with someone.

“Dopheld, there’s another human here!” Perking up, Lieutenant Mitaka of the First Order looked over at Karn, who pointed at Hux with his snout. “Over there, Dopheld!”

Standing up, Mitaka turned around, looking beyond Karn. For a moment it didn’t seem like he could see what the old wolf was looking at, but then his eyes widened, and his mouth fell partly open. A strange feeling filled his body as he saw Hux coming closer and closer with each passing second. The General soon stopped, staring back in disbelief. The two werewolves stared in shock at each other for a long moment, but then Mitaka was the first to react.

“HUUUUUUX!”

As Mitaka started running towards him, Hux flinched into motion next. “Mitaka!”

Karn and the pack all turned to watch them run towards each other, sensing just how much the two of them had lost their way now that they were so close together again. The atmosphere was heavy with the elation of them reuniting after being so far apart for so long.

Tears of both sadness and joy streamed down Mitaka’s face long before he ran right into Hux and his embracing arms. He was so overjoyed, so relieved, to finally be back with the only one he had such a powerful connection with, that he had jumped on him at the last second. Hux almost fell over backwards as he hugged Mitaka tightly, able to keep his balance just enough. They both felt the world spinning around them, but they didn’t care. It just seemed so surreal that they were together once again after being so far apart, but here they were. Mitaka was crying and sobbing while Hux held him tightly, as though their very lives depended on it. The General was very determined not to let him go ever again. Mitaka lowered his feet back on the ground, but he kept his body flush against Hux, not wanting to let him go either. They were just so happy!

“Oh Hux, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I should have stayed with you! I shouldn’t have gone back to Thanisson, but I-! I-I…! Oh Hux, you’re here! You’re really here…!”

Smiling behind watery eyes, Hux placed his hand on the back of Mitaka’s head to comfort him. “I know; I know what you did, there was damaged footage, but I know. But that no longer matters now. I am right here, and I am never going anywhere without you ever again.”

As they continued to hold tightly to each other, Karn and the pack were watching them, sensing that everything was okay. Mitaka knew this second werewolf that looked like a man, so they knew they had nothing to fear. As Karn smiled, glad to see Mitaka so happy finally, he inhaled deeply, catching a new scent. His smile quickly fell when he looked beyond them to the top of the hill. When he saw an all black monster with pale white arms staring down at them, fear and anger and disgust filled him. Karn bared his fangs, growling loudly in warning.

“Dopheld, behind you!”

Startled, Mitaka pulled back slightly to look over his shoulder. “What?!” Without more warning, Karn snarled as he ran past them and started up the hill. Pushing out of Hux’s grip, Mitaka moved forward a few feet, seeing where Karn was going. That’s when he saw a flash of red, and panic filled him. “Karn wait! Don’t-!”

But Mitaka was too late. Karn took a giant leap at his enemy, snapping his jaws at him.

“HA-ARP!”

“KARN!”

Running to the hill, Mitaka rushed to Karn, who had flown back after being struck in the chest. He was halfway down the hill as he rolled by the time Mitaka reached him. Mitaka fell to his knees, reaching shaking hands for Karn. The old wolf whined as he stared up at Mitaka.

“Run, Dopheld,” he wheezed out. “Run b-before it-”

“No, Karn, it’s okay,” Mitaka cooed. “That man is Kylo Ren. He is with my mate and me.” With his hands, Mitaka assessed the damage. A huge wave of relief washed over him. “You’re going to be fine, Karn. He barely scratched you. It will just burn for a bit, that’s all. You shouldn’t have attacked him though.”

Karn growled weakly at him. “You…d-do not understand, Dopheld! He is _far_ from human! Can’t you smell it?!”

Frowning, Mitaka looked up the hill, seeing Kylo Ren, mask and all, though this one was quite different, staring down at them, his lightsaber, which was a normal one, still activated. The Lieutenant carefully sniffed the air, relaxing when Ren’s scent smelled the same as normal. He then looked back down at Karn.

“You don’t need to worry, Karn. Kylo Ren always has that scent.”

Karn managed to get his front legs and chest up off the ground. “But, Dopheld, his scent fluctuates. Scents cannot do that!”

Concerned and worried again, Mitaka looked over his shoulder at Hux, who was approaching them. He then looked back at Karn. “Are you certain? Before I turned Hux, his scent was freshly fallen rain, but now it smells like acid rain instead. It is definitely poss-”

“No!” Karn snapped angrily, his fangs snapping together. “Yes scents can change, but not like this!”

Mitaka was frowning again. “I don’t understand-”

Turning his head, Karn growled up at Ren. “To smell of life, then death, and then back again is a _terrible_ omen…”

Feeling Hux crouch next to him on his right, Mitaka looked at him in worry. “Who is your friend, Mitaka?”

Hearing him, Karn looked at them both, glowering. “You humans are so stubborn! You are not _listening_ to me!”

“I heard you, Karn,” Mitaka sighed. “But Kylo Ren is simply…special. Like Hux and I.”

Karn shook his head. “He is _nothing_ like you…”

Mitaka shook his head in exasperation. “Alright, Karn, I hear you. Hux and I will handle it.” Karn whined, but nodded in understanding. Smiling, Mitaka spread his arms out a bit. “Alright, Karn, give me a big hug! It’s time for us to say good-bye.”

Karn’s ears went back. “You’re leaving?!”

Mitaka dropped his arms. “I have to, Karn! I am very important where I come from. They need me.”

“But _we_ need you, Dopheld!”

“No,” Mitaka said while shaking his head, “you were doing just fine without me. But my… _pack_ , would be nothing without me. I help keep them all together, just like you do for your pack.” Reaching his right hand forward, Mitaka gently ran his fingers in between Karn’s eyes in order to place his hand on the top of his head, in between his ears. He then smiled, his eyes holding a hint of sadness in them. “Thank you, for accepting me into your pack, Karn.” After petting his head a few times, Mitaka pulled him into a friendly hug, running one hand through his fluffy neck fur. Tears formed in his eyes. “I love you all, _so much_ …”

Whining weakly, Karn rested his muzzle on Mitaka’s shoulder, pressing their heads together. “We love you too, Dopheld. We will miss you.”

Mitaka’s tears finally fell down his face. “I will miss you too…” Pulling away after a few seconds, Karn gave Mitaka a huge lick to his face, licking the tears away. Mitaka laughed faintly before grabbing Karn’s face caringly and kissing his forehead briefly. He then pressed their foreheads together, as a sort of bonding ritual, before standing up. He pet Karn’s head a few times again, spreading the love, then smiled. “I will never forget you or the pack, Karn. Please be sure to tell them that. And also let them know how much I love them all.”

“I will.”

Sniffing, Mitaka turned to Hux, who had stood up. “I’m ready.”

Nodding, Hux reached around behind his head to grab the side of it and kissed his temple. Karn’s tail began to wag when he could clearly see and sense Mitaka’s love and happiness for this interesting man, feeling happy for them too.

“Good-bye, Dopheld.” Not waiting to see if Mitaka heard him or not, Karn walked past the two werewolves and headed for the pack. A few rushed forward, hurriedly asking him questions on what was going on, who the new men were, and where Mitaka was going, but Karn silenced them. “The whole pack will find out soon enough.”

While they joined the rest of the wolves, Hux and Mitaka headed up the hill to meet up with Ren, who finally deactivated his lightsaber and pocketed the hilt. He was scowling at them, only knowing half of what was going on since he couldn’t speak wolf.

“What was _that_ all about?”

“Mitaka was just saying good-bye to his pack mates,” Hux answered. “The wolf that attacked you gave us a warning regarding your scent.”

“And what’s wrong with my scent?!” Ren snapped, agitated.

“That’s not important right now. Now let’s return to the ship. We found what we came for.” As they headed down the other side of the hill, Mitaka asked how they had found him at all. “Well, it wasn’t easy, for starters. We weren’t even sure we were heading in the right direction, so I just allowed my instincts to take over. We have been traveling for over a month now, but about two hours ago, we picked up a signal that belonged to you.”

Mitaka’s eyes widened in surprise. “A signal? How?! The Resistance took all of my First Order memorabilia when they imprisoned me!”

“No, not everything,” Hux corrected him.

“What-?” Suddenly remembering something, a look of realization appeared on Mitaka’s face. “My rank marker!” Confusion almost instantly replaced his previous emotion. “Wait a minute, then that means-!”

“-That you were being tracked without your knowledge,” Hux finished for him. The trio was currently in the woods that Hux and Ren had to pass through from the ship. “I figure it was a precaution set for you, in case you fell too far off the radar as a transformed werewolf. Once it was decided what direction you had gone in, that’s how we would know where to start looking.”

Mitaka nodded, thinking it was a plausible conclusion. A thought soon came to him by the time they were almost to the clearing that the ship had landed in. “How did you convince Kylo Ren to come with you? How did you convince _Snoke_ for that matter?”

They soon began to approach the ship once they left the safety of the trees. Ren glanced back at them with narrowed eyes.

“Actually, it was _my_ idea to go looking for you. _And_ I convinced Supreme Ruler Snoke to let us go. So where is _my_ recognition and thanks at?”

Hux rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t be such a drama queen.”

Mitaka smiled at Ren. “Thank you for your help, sir.”

Stopping outside the hatch, Ren smirked in triumph at him. “Now that’s more like it. And you’re welcome.”

Turning to the door again, Ren pushed a button and the door began to open on its own. Once it was at the top, the trio walked on and Mitaka looked around in amazement and relief. Oh how he missed a proper place to sleep and live!

“I think I have died and gone to heaven!”

Smiling, Hux gently grabbed Mitaka’s arms and led him into the kitchen and dining room that was behind the cockpit. Ren went to the pilot’s seat to get the ship started and ready for lift off. Hux sat Mitaka down on the bed attached to the back of the pilot’s side of the cockpit before turning to the cupboards.

“Are you hungry? I could whip up a meal for you.”

Mitaka folded his legs up on the bed, leaning back against the wall behind him. “No, I ate lunch with the pack earlier. I will be glad to not eat raw meat again later though.”

Taking a glass down, Hux filled it with water before moving to the bed attachment and sitting next to Mitaka. He handed the glass to him. “You smell heavily of pine trees and dirt. You should take a shower soon here.”

Mitaka drank some of the water before nodding. “That would be amazing, thank you.”

Pulling Mitaka against him, Hux kissed the side of his head for a few seconds. “I love you, Mitaka.”

Mitaka nuzzled his head against Hux before drinking more water to quench his thirst. The ship was now ready to take off. Ren called to them from the front of the ship.

“Sit tight, and then we’ll be on our way home!”

Mitaka looked to the opening of the cockpit in curiosity. Home? Where exactly was home?

“Hux?”

The General looked down at Mitaka as they ascended into the air gradually. “Yes, Mitaka?”

Laying his legs to the left side, Mitaka wrapped his arms around Hux, tears forming in his eyes. “Did Starkiller-?”

Hux laid the side of his head on top of Mitaka’s. “Starkiller’s gone…”

Tears fell down Mitaka’s face. He held onto Hux tighter as the ship jerked violently as it began to leave the planet’s atmosphere. “I tried to save Thanisson, Hux, but…” Mitaka’s body tightened as he remembered very vividly what had happened to the Petty Officer. “Dr. Ekels murdered him, Hux. I was going to save Thanisson and we wouldn’t have been separated, but he…”

Mitaka closed his eyes tight. They were almost back into outer space now and the sudden change in altitude made him feel nauseous.

“I know, Mitaka,” Hux said comfortingly. “I know the truth. You don’t have to relive it all over again.”

“We’re on course to the Finalizer,” Ren announced, not knowing of the turmoil going on behind him. “When we are a bit closer, we’ll hyper drive back.”

Mitaka was glad that the Finalizer was still alive. He missed that bloody ship too. Lifting his hand, Mitaka wiped the tears from his eyes and sat up, leaning against Hux and staring off into space. “What happens now?”

Hux ran his hand through Mitaka’s messy hair. “We will worry about that upon our return to the Finalizer. Until then, you just need to relax, have a hot shower, and rest up. And I’ll be right here with you.”

Mitaka closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. “Okay…”

Hux wrapped his arms around him again, comforting him for however long Mitaka needed it. So much had happened in just a few short months, so it was time to not worry about any responsibilities until they mattered.

“I love you,” Hux spoke softly in Mitaka’s ear before kissing his head.

Mitaka didn’t realize just how much he missed those words until he heard them again. “I love you too…”

“Yeah well I hate you both.”

Hux’s eyes snapped open in a glare behind a furrowed brow. Mitaka couldn’t help but smile and chuckle. They both looked up to see Ren staring at them with his mask tucked under his arm.

“That’s really mature, Ren,” Hux muttered.

“I was just being honest, yeesh…”

Mitaka sat up, finished off his water, and then stood. “Well I for one really like you, Kylo Ren. You have become a very good friend. Thank you for not giving up on me and bringing Hux back to me.”

Ren’s eyes widened slightly in amazement. “Oh, um, you’re welcome. And thank you.”

“Of course, sir.”

Ren looked off to the side, scratching at his scar on the side of his face. “Eh, you can call me Ren, if you want…”

Mitaka smiled and nodded. “Okay, Ren.”

Standing up too, Hux wrapped his arm behind Mitaka and pulled him to his side. “Just don’t get any nasty ideas. Mitaka is mine.”

Mitaka looked to the ceiling and shook his head in amusement while Ren scowled at Hux.

“What makes you think that ever even crossed my mind?!”

“Relax, I was joking.”

“Well I don’t like it when you joke, Hux! You damn weirdo!”

As Hux and Ren continued to fight back and forth with each other, Mitaka slipped away from them in order to go into the bathroom and shower room, wanting a nice hot shower with fresh, clean water and shampoo and soap. Living out in the wilderness and sleeping on hard ground for weeks had made him as filthy as all galactic hell. A shower and a comfortable bed is definitely what he missed most of all!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Update:** ??? (writer's block sucks!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay, writer's block hit me so heavily due to depression! But I think I'm back and ready to keep up with this story! And as an apology for such a long wait you get TWO chapters; woohoo!
> 
> Possibly from now on, there will be no weekly update but I have a plan for updates. I have 2 more chapters done in advance already (I just had to write the porn here) so I'm not going to update again until after the current started chapter (14 in this case) is done. This allows me to keep having updates ready in advance so that hopefully the last few months doesn't happen again!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the double update and the new surprise twist I have in store for all of you patient readers!

After a wonderful shower and a not so great Welcome Back dinner later, it was time for bed. Not tired that night, Ren went onto the observation deck to train. Also, he figured Hux and Mitaka wanted time alone with each other after being apart for so long. He hoped they were truly happy now. And it was true, they were glad to be back together again, sleeping in the same bed, sharing the same warmth and comfort.

They were both nude aside from their black boxers in Hux’s bed, spooning with Mitaka in front. Hux’s eyes were closed while Mitaka had his partly open. They weren’t quite breathing in sync, but it was nice feeling Hux’s chest pressing against his back with each inhale. The General’s arms were wrapped loosely around Mitaka’s stomach, his fingertips gently massaging his skin. Laying like this was quite nice and relaxing.

“Hey, Hux?” Mitaka whispered.

Hux’s snuggled him. “Yes?”

Reaching around the front of his body, Mitaka placed his hand on Hux’s arm. “Were you okay…without me?”

Hux opened his eyes a bit. “To be honest, Mitaka, no, I wasn’t.”

Mitaka took a deep breath with his eyes closed. “I wasn’t well either. I felt so lost when Ekels sold me out to the Resistance. I never thought I’d see you again…” There was a long time of silence. “Hux, I’m scared.”

Hux looked down at Mitaka in confusion. “Of what?”

Gripping his arm tighter, Mitaka answered, “Of losing you again. He will try to separate us again, just like last time…”

Hux smiled triumphantly at him. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about Ekels, Mitaka.”

Mitaka craned his head around to see Hux’s mischievous face. “How come?”

Hux kissed him briefly. “Because I tore that traitor’s throat out just for you, sweetie.”

Mitaka looked in disbelief. “You did?”

“Yes.”

Looking ahead again, Mitaka chuckled softly. “No you didn’t.”

Wrapping his arms tight around him even more, Hux planted several kisses to Mitaka’s face in quick succession. “Yes, I…did… And I, did it all, just for…you.”

Mitaka laughed when the kisses tickled. “Well good, then I can rest easy knowing that bastard is dead. I hope he suffered.”

“Oh don’t worry, he most certainly did…”

After another few smothering kisses to his face, Hux rolled Mitaka over, wrapped his arms around the middle of his back, and pulled him right up against his body. Being taller, Hux’s chin rested on top of Mitaka’s head and he slowly and softly trailed his fingers along his spine. With his mouth at just the right height, Mitaka parted his lips and teeth to let his tongue slip out and he carefully licked Hux’s neck. He was actually surprised when Hux shivered lightly. This made Mitaka chuckle, air from his nose blowing across wet skin.

“So you _are_ sensitive _somewhere_ ,” he joked.

“Don’t press your luck.”

“Too late!” Turning his head a few centimeters, Mitaka pressed the top of his tongue sideways against Hux’s throat and gave him another lick. A muscle twitched from the wet and bumpy appendage and a muffled noise came from Hux’s throat. “…You can stop me any time,” Mitaka said deviously.

“No, it’s…fine.”

Thinking he found a gold mine with this discovery, Mitaka picked a new spot and licked Hux again. A groan came from Hux as his throat muscles twitched at the new feeling. While Mitaka continued to tease his throat with his warm, wet tongue, Hux moved his fingers gently down Mitaka’s spine in order to reach his hips. He dug his thumbs into the waistline of his boxers and began to pull them down from his cheeks. Mitaka brought one knee up to help Hux pull them off his ass and down his legs, then he kicked them off the rest of the way. As he began to kiss Hux’s neck now, Mitaka grabbed Hux’s boxers and pulled them off with one swift pull. While Hux kicked them away, Mitaka lifted his leg and placed it over Hux’s hip in order to press their groins together. As he felt their cocks touch, an amused smile appeared on Mitaka’s face.

“If I knew licking you made you so horny, I would have been doing it sooner.” Unable to speak currently, all Hux could do was growl weakly in slight duress. Chuckling against his neck, Mitaka went back to kissing him while pressing and rubbing against Hux, feeling him harden even more in seconds. “You want me so bad, huh?”

Unable to take it anymore, Hux shoved one hand in between their bodies, grabbed his penis, and started jacking off in order to produce pre-cum. To help Hux along, Mitaka returned to licking and kissing his neck, with a few nibbles of his teeth here and there. Hux was beginning to pant heavily from the teasing and fisting himself, which was finally giving him enough lubrication to prepare Mitaka with. Soon, the real fun would begin.

About a minute later and Mitaka had to stop messing with Hux’s neck when a loud and prolonged groan of pleasure came out of his mouth. Hux had been rubbing at his puckered hole with his wet fingers and had finally opened it up enough to get the first finger halfway inside. Although it wasn’t far enough in to reach his prostate or touch any important nerves, the finger still felt good inside of Mitaka. He had missed these times with Hux so much that fingering him was enough to drive him over the edge.

“H-Hux, h-hurry-”

A sudden small cry came from Mitaka as Hux inserted his second finger rather sharply, pushing both fingers in deeply. Mitaka’s body was tensed up as Hux pushed in even more, whilst moving the tips of his fingers into a downward arch. Relaxing when Hux relinquished some strength of his poised fingers, Mitaka moved his knee further over Hux’s hip in order to pull him closer to his front. Their bellies came very close together and Mitaka could feel Hux’s warmth spreading to him. He was starting to get antsy as he waited for Hux to remove his fingers and get his cock into him.

“Oh Hux, fuck me _please_!”

After a few more drags of his fingers, Hux spread them apart and then twisted them as he pulled them out. Mitaka gripped Hux’s hip firmly with his leg out of instinct. With difficulty since their bodies were pressed together, Hux reached in, stroked his cock a few more times, and then angled it downward to get between Mitaka’s thighs. Wanting this as badly as Hux did, Mitaka used his left hip to push up off the bed enough for Hux to get the head at his slick opening. When he felt the tip in between his spread cheeks, he gradually began to press down onto it, a prolonged moan coming out of him as the full length entered his tight quarters.

“K-Kriff you’re hot,” Hux growled out as heat covered his cock quickly.

“J-Jus’ sh-shut up and…m-move already!” Once Mitaka’s cheeks were pressing against Hux’s balls, Hux bent his legs at the knee, grabbed Mitaka’s thigh with his hand, and then yanked him towards his crotch as he fully penetrated him with a harsh jerk of his hips. Mitaka cried out as his prostate was prodded harshly, sending shock waves of pleasure through him. “Ah Hux!”

Finally ready to give them both the intoxicating feeling they had craved for so long, Hux moved his hips down and slightly back, waited two seconds to decide how much force he should start out with, and then jerked them back up. Mitaka’s body jerked upward and he practically screamed as he felt Hux’s cock shift inside of him and hit his prostate. They were breathing heavy and hard as Hux started out slow in order for this to last as much as possible.

For the next few minutes, Hux applied more power to his thrusts, panting, growling sometimes, and closed his eyes as he moaned in sync with Mitaka’s. He soon grabbed under Mitaka’s thighs in order to keep him steady as he thrust faster.

“A-Ah, hah, ah, y-you…f-feel so good,” Hux managed to breathe out. When he felt a sudden tight constriction on his cock, he closed his eyes as he moaned loudly. “M-Mitaka…!”

It took a few seconds for the constriction to pass before Hux could thrust into Mitaka some more. When the leaking head hit a sweet spot, Mitaka’s leg over Hux’s hip tightened and their bellies pressed harder together. Wanting to penetrate even deeper, Hux lifted his hands to the small of Mitaka’s back and forced him forward as he thrust upward hard.

Throwing his head back, Mitaka cried out, “AH HUX!”

Hux kept pressing his hands hard to Mitaka’s back to keep him from moving as he thrust fast and hard, barely needing to pull out now. They both continued to pant and moan loudly and Hux was nearing his breaking point. For the final minute, he gave Mitaka everything he got.

After a few more jabbing thrusts, Hux came hard and they both cried out as Mitaka was filled. Hux held it in strongly until he was empty, feeling some cum oozing around the base of his cock and balls and Mitaka’s cheeks. As Hux gradually relaxed his body and loosened his grip around Mitaka’s body, Mitaka slumped forward against him, his leg over Hux’s hip sliding off, aside from his ankle and half of his calf. Both men panted heavily to regain their breaths. Hux slowly and carefully pulled out, feeling cum spill from Mitaka’s stretched opening. With their bellies still close, Hux lifted his hips a few centimeters in order to rub his wet and sticky penis against the crack of Mitaka’s ass for good measure. The act caused Mitaka to moan faintly against Hux’s chest. This made the General chuckle.

“You like that, do you?”

To answer, Mitaka moved his waist back and forth to rub his ass on Hux’s dick. This caused his own penis and crotch to push against the man’s stomach. Gripping Mitaka’s lower back again, Hux helped him move along his length, feeling pre-cum dripping out of the head of Mitaka’s penis onto his stomach.

“H-Hux…come…l-like this…w-with me…”

Nodding, Hux gripped Mitaka harder and started thrusting again. It didn’t take long for the top of the length to be sucked in between Mitaka’s cheeks. As they both came near a second climax, Mitaka was panting and moaning again, feeling strange because of it. He didn’t know if he liked it or not, but it was an interesting sensation regardless. Mitaka cried out faintly when he came a minute and a half later, gripping Hux tighter. He then slumped against him again as he finished ejaculating. They both could use a shower after all that.

They soon recovered and Hux lowered Mitaka’s leg off his hip before he rolled over onto his back. Mitaka did the same and they just laid there until their breaths returned. A few minutes later and Hux reached over to wrap his arm around Mitaka’s shoulders. The Lieutenant scooted closer to Hux and rested the side of his head on his shoulder, tucking it under his chin. They laid in bed like that for a long time without a sound. Mitaka was half asleep before Hux turned his face to him and kissed the top of his head.

“We should shower and clean the bed before Ren goes to sleep,” he murmured. “We should also go to sleep soon.” Mitaka nodded, not acting as if he was going to get up at all that night. A bit later, he tried to pull away from Hux as the General tried to get him up. “You can’t go to bed yet.”

“’M warm…cozy,” Mitaka mumbled.

“I know, but it will have to wait,” Hux urged, having sat up whilst trying to pull Mitaka up. The Lieutenant was being stubborn and he tried to roll over and away from Hux, but the man wouldn’t have it. “I swear I’ll put you in a freezing cold shower if you don’t get up, you butt.”

“Y-You’re a…b-butt!”

“No you are,” Hux teased, trying to pick Mitaka up in his arms. It was difficult, but he managed, but barely. “You are so stubborn…”

As Hux made to get off the bed, Mitaka wrapped his arms around his neck to avoid falling out of his arms. “Tired…”

Hux headed out of the bedroom and moved to the bathroom, turning sideways so that Mitaka didn’t bang his head on the door frame. Reaching the shower stall, Hux laid Mitaka in it and turned the cold on. As the freezing cold spray hit Mitaka’s naked body, he yelped in surprise.

“HUX!”

“I warned you,” Hux said as he then turned the heat on. The spray soon turned warm, letting him inside. After closing the door, he sat down by Mitaka’s feet. The Lieutenant was now awake and he moved back for room. “You can go back to sleep in ten or fifteen minutes.”

Mitaka yawned with his eyes closed. “Okay.” They sat there for a while, letting the warm steam wash over them before they would soap up their bodies. Hux was getting a washcloth soaking wet and soapy when Mitaka thought of something. “Hey Hux?”

“Mh.”

Mitaka blinked a few times. “We’ve been mates for a while now.”

As he was washing his entire body with the soapy cloth, Hux looked up at him. “Yes, and…?”

“And we’ve known each other for much longer than that.”

“Okay…”

Mitaka tilted his head. “So how come we’re not on a first name basis already?”

Hux stopped what he was doing to stare slightly wide-eyed at Mitaka. “Is…there something wrong with calling each other by our last names?”

“Well no, but most people in our situation would refer to each other by their first names, so I wondered why we haven’t yet.”

“Oh.”

Mitaka looked confused at the strange look now on Hux’s face. “What’s wrong?”

Wiping the washcloth down his chest and stomach after staring at Mitaka for a few more seconds, Hux rinsed the cloth out before washing away excess soap.

“Nothing.”

Mitaka scowled weakly, clearly not believing him. “Hux, I may not be as smart as you, but I’m not stupid. Why can’t we refer to each other by our first names off-duty? Hell, I don’t even _know_ your first name! I just want to know why-”

“I hate my name.”

Mitaka blinked at Hux’s furrowed brow as he glared at the floor. “How come?”

“Because it’s a shitty name, that’s why.”

Mitaka was barely fazed at the snapping tone and a look of genuine curiosity crossed his face. “Even if I say it?”

There was a long pause. Hux soon looked up, looking worse for wear. “ _Especially_ if you say it.”

“Oh,” Mitaka said, not actually expecting that answer. “…Still, I at least want to know what it is.”

Hux looked off to the side. “Then ask someone else to tell you.”

“No, I want to hear it from you.” Hux didn't respond. Scowling, Mitaka sat up and practically crawled to Hux. The General looked at him as Mitaka grabbed his wet arms firmly, but comfortingly. “Please tell me. I’ll never say it if you really despise it that much, I promise.”

The two werewolves stared in each others’ eyes for almost a minute. Seconds later, Hux lowered his gaze, closed his eyes, and exhaled from his mouth. Mitaka squeezed his arms in reassurance.

“…It’s Brendol.”

Mitaka felt Hux shudder in disgust, but why? Why was that name terrible? Mitaka thought it was a good name.

“What’s wrong with Brendol?”

Hux snorted. “Because my bastard of a father named me after him.”

“Oh… I see.”

Sighing, Hux grabbed Mitaka’s arms and pushed him gently back. “Do you remember that small dedication shrine of my grandfather that I have in my office?”

“Yes.”

“I bet you assumed he was the father of my father.” Mitaka nodded. “Well he wasn’t. He’s my mother’s father, a woman I will never get to meet because my bastard of a father took me from her.” Mitaka could feel anger fill Hux as he kept going with his explanation. “Because that piece of shit couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, he raped an innocent woman and that was it. He found out about me not long later and to ensure that his reputation wouldn’t be ruined, he made up bullshit lies about my mother, saying she died in child birth. That’s why he named me after himself and never allowed me to find my mother, and because of that, I hate that name with a burning passion. So you can understand why I would hate hearing you say that name. As far as I’m concerned, my name is Hux and always will be, so you need to respect that.”

There was a tense silence after that heated explanation. Mitaka soon nodded in understanding.

“Okay, Hux, you are not your father and you never will be. And I don’t blame you.” Mitaka looked down, sadness filling him. “I’m sorry he did that to you…”

“…I know.”

There was a long pause before Mitaka looked back up at Hux, the air relaxed somewhat. “I assume since you know your grandfather that you eventually met your mother?”

Hux’s eyes moved back and forth a few times. “No.” Mitaka’s shoulders slumped. “She died four years after my birth. That’s how I met my grandfather.” Hux cleared his throat before continuing to rinse himself off. “Turned out, he was looking for me while she was alive and not long after she had died. He’s the one who enrolled me into the Academy. He would never admit it, but I knew he did that for me so that one day I could look my smug father in the eye and tell him how he meant nothing and would always be nothing; that I would always be a better man than he’d ever be. And damn right I am. My father will never be better than me. My grandfather taught me that…”

Not long after that explanation, Mitaka smiled. “I wish I could have met him.”

Looking up now that he was done, Hux handed Mitaka the washcloth. “I do, too. Then he would have proof that I _am_ better.”

Taking the washcloth, Mitaka rung it out. “He doesn’t need proof. He already knew…”

They didn't say anything else after that. Mitaka washed his body while Hux stayed to help clean his backside, and then they left the shower, dried off, and then remade the bed. Not bothering to get redressed, they got under the sheet and covers, Hux laid on his back, and Mitaka snuggled up against him, draping his right arm over his body. They then closed their eyes, drifting off to sleep, dreaming about nothing but each other.


	12. Chapter 12

Mitaka was the first one to wake up the following morning after a nice, long sleep. He was on his side, facing the other bed. For a moment, he thought nothing of it, but then he blinked in curiosity. Where was Kylo Ren? The bed hadn’t even been slept in.

‘ _Maybe he’s been training all night,’_ he thought to himself.

Looking downward, Mitaka saw Hux’s arms wrapped loosely around his stomach. Being careful not to wake him, Mitaka moved his top arm, rolled forward onto his front, and then silently got down from the bed. He looked at Hux briefly, smiling at his still sleeping form, before getting dressed and then leaving the bedroom. He grabbed two nutritional breakfast bars from the cupboard in the kitchen, two bottled waters, and then he headed up for the observation deck.

Sure enough, Ren was training with his normal red lightsaber, attacking imaginary opponents all throughout the middle of the room. Mitaka came forward, rubbing at his eye with the back of his hand.

“Morning, Ren.”

After a swift diagonal slash at the air, Ren stood up straight, turned off the lightsaber, and then turned around, breathing heavily. His pale face was covered in sweat.

“Morning? Already?” Stopping a few feet away, Mitaka nodded. “I must have been training harder than I thought.”

“Seems that way.” There was a pause, but then Mitaka lifted the items in his hand. “Hungry?”

Nodding, Ren sheathed his lightsaber hilt before moving closer. Mitaka handed him a bar and water, sat down with his own, and opened his food. Ren remained standing since he was guzzling down his water without stopping. When the bottle was empty, he lowered it and let out a heavy breath of relief at feeling refreshed.

“Where’s Hux?” he asked after he sat down with his bar.

“Still asleep.”

Ren chewed on the end of his breakfast bar, staring at Mitaka as he ate his own. There was a few seconds of chewing before Ren pulled it from his mouth. “I…have known Hux for a very long time, so I have never seen him so emotionally invested in a person…until you came along.”

A strange silence filled the room. Mitaka was staring blankly at Ren, not sure why he was telling him this. “Okay…”

“And I don’t know, but I…well I just know how that feels, because of you.”

Mitaka blinked, trying to decipher Ren’s tone, words, and the look on his face. It suddenly hit him to what the Force user meant. “You’re emotionally invested in me?”

“You just make me feel…normal. Like I’m not a…” Trailing off, Ren looked off to the side, sighing. “Hux wasn’t the only one who could feel the pain of losing you.”

The room was silent again. Mitaka kept blinking at Ren, his face blank. Closing up his bar, he lowered it to the floor. “I seem to have that effect on people.”

Ren looked at him. “But why? Why you? What makes you this special? How do you make me not feel like a…like I’m not a _monster_?”

Ren lowered his gaze, his eyes narrowing. A look of sadness, but also gratitude, appeared on Mitaka’s face. Reaching forward, he placed his hand on Ren’s that was resting on his knee. “Because you and I both know that we are not…” Ren stared at the hands, not knowing what to say. Soon, a calmness came over both of them. When the air returned to normal, Mitaka pulled his hand back and returned to his breakfast. Ren watched him momentarily before working on finishing off his. They were soon done and Mitaka looked at Ren as he drank some water to wash the food down. “Hey, do you think we could help each other with something?”

Ren looked up. “Such as?”

Mitaka’s brow furrowed slightly. “That wolf that attacked you, his name is Karn by the way, he told me something I was never told before. It…has to do with being a werewolf.”

“…Go on.”

After another sip of water, Mitaka set the bottle down. A look of determination appeared on his face then. “I want you to help me turn into a wolf.”

* * *

“A wolf? That sounds like a bit of a stretch…”

Ren snorted at Hux’s disbelieving tone. They had just finished telling him what Mitaka explained to Ren in the observation deck. “You finally believe in my Force ability existing, but you can’t possibly fathom _this_?!”

Hux glared at him. “That’s because I’ve _seen_ the Force! I have never met another werewolf aside from Mitaka! So of course I’m skeptical!”

“Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t _exist_! What if that wolf is right; what if you _can_ become wolves whenever you wanted? Have you any idea how useful that would be for the First Order?”

“Say it _is_ possible. How can we fight the Resistance as wolves without letting the entire galaxy know about us? No one in the First Order has trained for encountering beings like us! They could never understand!”

“How do _you_ know?”

In the last seat of the kitchen table, Mitaka had his elbow on it as he rested the side of his face in his hand. He had been staring at the two bickering for a long time now, getting more impatient by the minute.

“We are not doing it; end of discussion!”

“Don’t be a big chicken.”

“I am being _practical_!”

“No, I think you’re afraid of being treated differently if they find out. The First Order has always looked at you in one way, and you can’t handle that going away.”

“I am not afraid of anything!”

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

When Hux had a hard time coming up with a counter, Mitaka finally butted in. “The Resistance knows.”

Hux looked at him, forgetting he was there. “What? How do you know that?”

Mitaka glanced at Ren, who seemed curious about that too. He then sat up straight, looking back at Hux. “Because General Organa knows.” An unsettling silence filled the ship. Ren’s eyes were wide and his heart was beating hard in his chest at hearing his mother’s name spoken aloud. “I went on a killing spree the night I escaped the Resistance prison, so she came with a bunch of soldiers to capture me the next afternoon. I overheard her talking to that X-Wing Starfighter, Poe Dameron, about it. She said no one else should know either, but someone is bound to find out eventually. That would put the First Order at a great disadvantage.”

Hux was exasperated. After being extra careful about keeping this werewolf business a secret, it looked like it was going to come out anyway? _Greaaaaat_.

“…You…met my mother?”

Mitaka looked at Ren, stared at him for a few seconds, and then nodded. “Ekels told her lies about me in order to have me executed, so she talked to me personally in interrogation. She tried to promise me that the First Order would receive fair trials for our crimes, but I knew what the outcome would be regardless of the facts. She…also knows about Hux’s and my special relationship.”

Mitaka hadn’t wanted to bring up Ren’s mother, but they had a right to know the truth. If he needed Hux to come out to his armies about having two werewolves in their midst, then he had no other choice in the matter.

“…Snoke is going to kill us.”

Hux snorted at Ren for saying that. “Drama queen.”

“Chickenshit.”

“I’m not afraid!

“Well I sure the galactic hell am!”

Mitaka quickly buried his face in his hands as Hux and Ren went back to bickering amongst themselves. This is not how he imagined their meeting to go…

Two hours later, Hux and Mitaka were laying propped up in their bed, Hux’s arm draped over Mitaka’s shoulders while running his fingers up and down his upper arm. They had just had a long discussion on how to tell the First Order about them being werewolves. No matter what, it was going to be a hard secret to admit to. There was no telling how anyone would react to the news. They would either fear them, hate them, or, worst of all, never see them the same way again.

“Do you truly believe we can turn into wolves?” Hux asked softly.

Grabbing Hux’s hand on his arm, Mitaka interlocked their fingers together. “I really don’t know. But it doesn’t hurt to try.” He looked up at Hux’s face. “We have to tell them, Hux.”

The man sighed. “Yes, I know…”

Smiling weakly, Mitaka reached up to kiss his cheek. “It’s okay to be afraid, Hux. I am too.”

Looking down at him, Hux inhaled deeply before letting it out and planting a semi-long kiss to his forehead. “Then I guess…we’ll have to be afraid together.”

Smiling, Mitaka nuzzled his head against Hux before kissing the side of his neck. “We’ll get through this, like we’ve always done.” Going to his ear next, Mitaka added, “I believe in us, so you should too.”

Quickly turning his face to him, Hux forced their mouths together in a passionate kiss, his free hand going up to Mitaka’s neck to trail gentle fingers down the muscle there. Mitaka groaned into it before lowering his face and licking Hux’s neck next. Hux closed his eyes in bliss.

“You’re…becoming a wolf already.”

Moving his face away from Hux’s neck, Mitaka laughed. Seconds later, an amused smile appeared on Hux’s face, and he chuckled. They definitely needed a good laugh after all that had happened to them.

“I love you, my big strong woof.”

Hux smiled down at Mitaka before kissing his head. “I love you too, beautiful.”

Rolling onto his side to face Hux, Mitaka snuggled up against him and closed his eyes, feeling like the bravest man in the entire universe. So long as he had Hux by his side, there was nothing to ever fear again…

* * *

“ _It is good to see you all alive and well,”_ Captain Phasma said on the ship’s front window via telecommunication. _“And especially you, Lieutenant Mitaka. We feared the worst.”_

Ren, Hux, and Mitaka the next day had contacted the First Order, to let them know they would be hyper driving back tomorrow morning. Mitaka smiled at Phasma in gratitude.

“Thank you, Captain.”

“We also have something else to tell you, Captain,” Hux said as he stood next to Ren on his left. “It has to do with our little secret.”

“ _I see_ _…”_

“Mitaka and I have decided to reveal it to the First Order.”

“ _Do you think that wise, sir? It was a surprise to me, surely it will be a shock to everyone else-”_

“We have thought about the First Order’s reaction to it already, yes, but, in the end, it is the right decision. We will also be revealing our plans on taking the advantage over the Resistance.”

“ _And how will you do that?”_

Hux glanced at Mitaka, who just nodded at him. “The entirety of the Resistance will likely know what we are by now, therefore they would know not to attack on our transformation night. Therefore, Mitaka and I are going to get stronger. With Ren’s help, of course, and yours, if you are willing.”

Phasma dipped her head forward. _“It would be my honor, sir.”_

“Good. I will be addressing the First Order the afternoon of our return tomorrow, so you will know of the full plan then. If you could inform Colonel Datoo, the Admirals, Majors Dark and Karger, the other Captains, and Supreme Leader Snoke about our arrival, do so.”

“ _It will be done.”_

“Thank you, Captain. We will be back on the Finalizer at 0900.”

“ _Yes sir.”_

With a nod, Hux cut the connection. Lowering his folded arms, Ren turned around and headed down the walkway.

“If you need me, you know where I’ll be.”

Mitaka sat down in the co-pilot seat, watching meteors fly by the side window. They had changed the course of the ship a bit to travel side-by-side with the meteor shower. It was quite relaxing to watch the floating rocks go by.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t have another extra day out here. Once back on the Finalizer, I will be too busy training with Ren to see the stars much.”

Inhaling deeply, Hux sat down in the other seat, slouching in it to relax. “We should make the most of it today then.”

Mitaka turned his head in Hux’s direction, smiling. “You need to prepare for your speech tomorrow.”

Folding his arms over his chest, Hux closed his eyes, planting his feet firmly on the floor. “You should write it for me.”

“Uh…no.”

Opening his eyes, Hux turned his face in Mitaka’s direction. “What if I order you to write it for me?”

Mitaka snorted sarcastically. “Then I refuse, my good sir!”

“Refusal calls for severe punishment, Lieutenant.”

Mitaka finally leered at Hux. “And how do you plan to do that, _sir_?”

Smirking deviously, Hux lifted his upper body into a sitting position while pushing his hands against the arm rests, stood up, and then moved in between Mitaka and the dash. He folded his arms over his chest as he stared down at him, still smirking.

“Oh, I have my ways.”

Sitting up in a challenge-like position, Mitaka courageously said, “Then _show me_.”

There was a pause, but then Hux licked his lips. “You are going to wish you hadn’t begged me for it.”

Right after he said this, Hux pounced.

* * *

It was late and the ship was fairly quiet. On a balcony of the observation deck, Mitaka was leaned back against Hux as they stared out the window together to look at the stars. Down below, Ren was still training away, this time using both of his lightsabers instead of the malfunctioning one. He had to practice with them for when he would be training Mitaka starting in two days. It was more difficult to fight imaginary opponents with them this way, but it was still good practice for when he fought a real one.

“I wish we could stay out here in uncharted territories for the rest of our lives,” Mitaka spoke softly and out loud. “No one would ever find us or bother us again. To be with you, always, that’s my dream.”

Hux’s eyes were half open as he stared down at the top of Mitaka’s head. He wrapped his arms a bit tighter around his waist. “We will have plenty of time for that once the First Order succeeds.”

“Yeah, but is our possible downfall worth all of that…?”

Hux didn't answer. No one could truly know the outcome of a war, so how could he, or anyone else, answer such a question? There was no way to see into the future; there would be too many possible endings. Not really expecting an answer, because not even he could respond, Mitaka turned onto his side, leaned against Hux while wrapping his arms around his middle, and then closed his eyes.

“Win or lose, I just want to be with you.”

Mitaka smiled faintly at that answer. It was the best one they had. “I love you.”

Leaning forward, Hux laid the side of his head on top of Mitaka’s, breathing in deeply. “I love you too.”

With a deep inhale, Mitaka snuggled completely against Hux, and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of no one but him…


	13. Chapter 13

In a star system far, far away, a travel ship stopped hyper driving fifty kilometers away from the infamous _Resurgent_ -class Star Destroyer, the Finalizer. After two long months, the ship was back in tip top shape, as well as received some necessary upgrades in case of an attack. The small ship sent a signal to the larger one as it slowly approached a hangar that began to open seconds later. The ship entered through the force field that kept the oxygen-less space outside where it belonged. Inside the ship that touched down once it was far enough inside, Hux was piloting while Mitaka took the co-pilot seat.

“Just don’t expect a parade when we get inside,” Ren said absentmindedly from the sitting bench located behind the pilot seat.

“I wasn’t, but now I’m just bummed,” Mitaka admitted, half joking, half not. “They would care more about Hux coming back than either of us.”

“Hey thanks, Mit, now _I’m_ bummed.”

Hux rolled his eyes as Mitaka chuckled before turning the ship off and unbuckling his seat belt. “Come on, we have a lot to do before I give our coming out speech tonight. I was informed mere minutes ago by Phasma that Snoke has summoned us as soon as we returned.”

The trio got up and headed for the hatch that led them out of the ship. Hux took the lead, slicked back a few loose hairs, which just made Ren roll his eyes, and then pushed the button to open the hatch. It lowered and he began to step down the ramp, glancing around as he did.

The hangar was pretty much empty. There were a few engineers and builders working on a dozen TIE Fighters, some of which had sharp, blade-like spikes coming out both sides, replacing anything outdated, fried, or needed brand new parts and internal components, and testing their durability. Technicians were walking around, conversing with others, and doing all sorts of mandatory tasks. There was even a crew of men and women ordering parts that the First Order needed for upgrades and repairs. There were no higher-ups to greet them, except for one.

“Welcome back to the Finalizer, General Hux, Knight Ren, and Lieutenant Mitaka,” Phasma greeted, not carrying her blaster gun with her like she normally did. “I certainly hope you had a safe journey.”

The trio stopped in front of her. Hux gave a nod. “It was fine, thank you. Is Snoke still wanting to see us?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright, thank you, Captain. If you will gather my army and all my commanders for a mandatory assembly in the auditorium at 1330, please do.”

“Of course, sir.” Looking away from Phasma, Hux walked around her, heading for the exit. Ren gave her a jerk of his head before following. Mitaka tried to follow too, but Phasma stopped him. “I, for one, have been honored to be your confidante, Lieutenant. I stood by you and General Hux when I learned of your relationship and again after finding out who you truly are. You are a fine werewolf if I ever saw one.”

Blinking a few times, Mitaka didn’t quite know what to say, so he smiled. “Thank you, Captain Phasma. Your support means a lot to me, to us.” Phasma gave a small nod of her head. “I should be going now.”

“You will be fine.”

Mitaka knew exactly what she meant by that. He briskly walked after Ren and Hux, steeling himself for when he came face-to-face with Snoke again for the first time in a long time. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect in their meeting.

Five minutes later, and the trio arrived to Snoke’s chamber. As they had traveled through the Finalizer to their destination, Stormtroopers and other soldiers had greeted Hux like they had been trained to do, and welcomed him back from his sudden and unknown trip. Hux merely nodded, not in the mood to address them properly yet. He needed all the confidence and courage he could get before he revealed the truth to them all. Before they were close enough to the wide door, it slid open from one side, revealing a dim pathway beyond. The air coming out of the chamber was none too friendly, and anyone close-by briskly walked away. Mitaka swallowed hard at the strong, dark power coming from within.

“Maybe his presence only feels this strong because I’ve been gone for so long,” he said out loud.

“No, he’s pissed.”

Hux shot Ren a glare. “Really?”

Sighing, Ren took the first step towards the opening. “Come on, if we keep him waiting any longer, he’ll have all our heads.”

Mitaka and Hux followed him, their acute senses hurting their heads the closer to the chamber they got. They soon entered and walked down the wide path that allowed for four people to stand side-by-side, heading straight for the actually only seven-foot tall Snoke. He was staring down at them with narrowed eyes. The trio soon stopped feet away, waiting with held breath at what was going to happen to them soon.

“So your mission was a success. Good. However-”

Mitaka quickly cleared his throat. “Please forgive my interruption, Supreme Ruler, but I am the one who is at fault for the Resistance learning of Hux’s and my existence as werewolves. Had I not let my emotions get the best of me-”

“Yes, your incompetence at keeping a level head during conflict has set the First Order back by many moons. And soon they will find out why one of their own has halted their progression forward. If it were not out of my hands, they would never know. You had better be prepared for when they _despise_ and _reject_ you for what you are.”

Hunching forward slightly, Mitaka lowered his head in shame. Hux was glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, but he looked up at Snoke, glaring weakly.

“If they value their lives, Supreme Ruler, they will keep their rejections to themselves. In the end, this is the right thing to do. There are far more important things to worry about than some pathetic secret that shouldn’t have been one in the kriffing _first place_.”

“ _Hux_!”

Before they saw it coming or could do anything to stop it from happening, Hux was suddenly flying forward, heading straight for Snoke’s outstretched, grotesque gray hand. The disfigured alien wrapped his bony fingers hard and painfully tight around Hux’s throat, baring blunt and many missing teeth at him.

“You have tried my patience for the _last time_ , beast! If you were not as important as you are, you _would not be here_!” With a quick jerk of his arm and hand, Snoke sent Hux flying through the air. He slammed hard into the walkway several feet back, having flown right between Ren and Mitaka, who both had jerked around to see him. Mitaka started to rush forward, but Snoke’s angry voice froze him in place. “You have caused enough damage already, whelp, do not make me regret letting you return _at all_!”

Either he was being brave or very foolish, Ren turned back to Snoke, giving him a pleading look. “Master, please, I was the one that-!”

Snoke turned to him next. “And _you_!” Ren cowered back as if he had been hit instead of yelled at. “Had I not taken pity on you with your _disgusting_ begging, none of this would have occurred in the first place! All three of you have angered me for the last time! I have enough power to destroy you right where you stand!” Ren tensed at the threat. On the floor, Hux was gritting fangs and teeth hard together as pain lingered in his spine where he had hit it. Mitaka was visibly shaking from both fear and adrenaline. It took all of his willpower not to run away from that godawful chamber. When no one moved, made a sound, or said a word, the hostile air dissipated somewhat, and Snoke began to lower himself back down in his black chair. “…You three had better tread _lightly_ from now on. I would so _hate_ to have to destroy any of you when your powers are so _useful_ to me…” There was a long pause, which gave the trio enough time to recuperate from all of that. Seconds later and Snoke sighed. “Get out of my sight, before I _do_ choose to take all that you have worked hard for away…”

Mitaka didn’t need to be told twice. Briskly walking to Hux’s side, he crouched down, grabbed his arm with both hands, and tried to help him up. Ren was staring at the floor, hurt in his eyes. His scar stung terribly as Snoke’s words repeated in his head. This was the first time the alien had attacked him in such a manner. It made him swallow hard at the remembrance.

“I am sorry, master.”

Snoke blinked. “…You are forgiven, Kylo.” Half a minute later, Mitaka was finally able to get Hux on his feet. His knees were bent, letting Mitaka drape his arm over his shoulders. He took a step towards the chamber door to leave when Snoke spoke to them next. “You had better be prepared for your announcement this afternoon.” Mitaka looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Hux was glaring in rage at the floor, his fangs still gritted. His throat and neck muscles hurt terribly. “Perhaps they will be far more _forgiving_ than I.”

Mitaka swallowed hard before glancing back at Snoke. “H-Hux is ready, sir. We…We’ll choose our words carefully.”

“Good. Then go, before I change my mind.”

“Yes, Supreme Ruler.”

Without another word or look back, Mitaka quickly led Hux out of the chamber, wanting to get as far away from it as possible. He ignored anyone staring at them as they passed, trying not to let his own anger bubble up inside of him.

“Th-That…b-bastard…!”

Mitaka very clearly heard the murderous tone in Hux’s voice, so he made them walk even faster. “Just shut up, okay?!” he hissed.

“Ow, okay, just stop yanking on my arm!”

They soon made it to the sleeping quarters level of the Finalizer. The corridor was deserted, so Mitaka stopped, turned Hux to have his back face the wall, and then he quickly checked the already forming bruises on his neck.

“You could have gotten yourself killed pulling a stunt like that!”

Hux growled weakly. “He knows I’m right, he’s just too prideful to admit it!”

Mitaka glared at him. “You’re one to talk.”

“I have suffered from enough humility already, I don’t need to feel more.” Mitaka gingerly touched the finger-shaped bruises again before licking at each one. “You are probably licking up trace evidence of dead skin cells, just so you know. ‘Ey!” Mitaka had hit Hux’s arm with his fist to let him know he didn’t appreciate the thought. Hux exhaled from his nose by the time Mitaka started licking at the other side. “…Thanks.”

Thanks to Mitaka’s saliva filled with werewolf DNA, Hux’s bruises faded from existence and the pain went away. When the Lieutenant pulled back, Hux quickly engulfed his mouth with his own, forcing his tongue inside to share whatever remnants of Snoke that might be there. The kiss lasted several seconds before they broke apart and began to breathe somewhat heavy.

“I feel bad for Ren,” Mitaka blurted out.

Lifting his hand, Hux pushed his fingers through Mitaka’s hair. “Snoke’s threats were empty. Ren will be just fine.”

Mitaka lowered his gaze to Hux’s chest. “I hope so.”

After moving his fingers through Mitaka’s hair a few more times, Hux placed the side of his pointer finger under his chin and lifted his face. He was smiling faintly but lovingly at him.

“Ren will be fine because he has you caring about him all the time.” After rehearing that line in his mind, Mitaka felt a swell of pride fill his chest. As he looked down, he scratched gently at his temple with his finger, smiling sheepishly. This just made Hux chuckle. “You’re so cute.”

With his open palm, Mitaka somewhat forcefully hit Hux right below the shoulder. “Am not.”

“Are too.”

Before anyone could get the chance to see Hux acting so out of character, the two retreated to Hux’s room to get themselves ready for when the man did his speech. They both showered and dressed quickly before heading for the auditorium. Hux was repeating his speech over and over again as they went. Mitaka gave him an encouraging smile.

“You’re going to be fine. Just remind yourself of how you felt the day you revealed our plans for Starkiller and it’ll flow out of you like water. And I’ll be right behind you.”

Hux took a deep breath before nodding. “I know. And thank you.”

They soon reached backstage of the auditorium, where Phasma was waiting for them. Mitaka had hoped Ren would be there, but he was probably still upset about earlier. When it was almost time for Hux to go out, Mitaka placed his hand on his cheek and gave him a several seconds-long, gentle kiss.

“I love you.”

Grabbing the back of Mitaka’s head, Hux kissed him back more passionately twice, and then one small one. “I love you too.”

Exhaling out of his mouth after stepping back, Hux turned around, got the words ready within his mind to psych himself up, and then began to walk out onto the stage. He headed straight for a podium near the front of the stage and that was set in the middle. Mitaka stayed back while keeping an eye on Hux, in case he needed help. Stopping behind the podium, Hux took another deep breath, let it out of his nose, and then looked at everyone with a weak, determined look on his face. He had to swallow hard to find his voice as he gripped the edge of the podium firmly with both hands.

“There is no…easy way to tell the entirety of the First Order of what I am about to say now, but it must be addressed. For the last eight months, there has been a secret kept from every single one of you, sans the Supreme Ruler, Knight Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, and Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka. For your own safety, Mitaka and I have had to lie to you about what we are.” At the choice of using “what” instead of “who”, people began to whisper amongst themselves in both confusion and curiosity. Hux heard them all too clearly, making his brow furrow in a weak glare. “We are not simply human, as you have been grown accustomed to believe, but something else entirely. Having lost the Starkiller and needing to change tactics these last grueling months, we can no longer keep this a secret from any of you, including the Resistance. In fact, the remaining Republic and Resistance forces may already know the truth and are using it to their advantage to take down the First Order once and for all. Therefore, it is imperative that you also learn the truth, so that you can become better prepared for the inevitable war to come.”

Hux paused before he reached the most important part of his speech, feeling his heart pound in his chest. It was now or never, and yet he couldn’t get the words out. Hux just couldn’t bear whatever looks would appear on these men and women’s faces, especially those of fear and possible outrage, after he let the cat out of the bag. The silence was unbearable as they waited for the truth, but now Hux was having very cold feet. This was a really bad idea-

Hux suddenly perked up when he felt a presence come up beside him. Looking over, his eyes wide, he saw Mitaka standing there with a furrowed brow of determination. Hux could see his Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallowed in nervousness.

“What General Hux wants to say is one of the hardest things he will ever have to say. But since it all started with me, then I am the only one responsible to tell you the truth.” Taking a deep breath, Mitaka finally said, “My name is Dopheld Mitaka and General Hux and I are werewolves.” Immediately, almost everyone began to talk amongst themselves. Next to Mitaka, he felt Hux look away and feel very small once he could hear the outrage and fearful voices from almost everyone. Gritting his teeth, Mitaka stepped closer to the front of the stage, glaring at everyone. “ _Hey_! Shut the hell up!”

Almost instantly the large room fell silent at the shout from Mitaka. After the room was dead silent, his face softened a bit as he continued to stare hard at them all.

“I get it, you’re afraid. When I learned of what I was at age seven, I was afraid too. I had to be separated from my family to live with my home planet’s shaman so that he could train me for my new life. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to face and it nearly cost me my life. But the galaxy had other plans for me being a werewolf. I went to the Academy, same as most of all of you, and was able to live amongst you despite how dangerous I was. Once a month, I was given special privileges that enraged a lot of students, not knowing that it was for _their_ safety. I was alienated from them, and not just because I didn’t have anyone to turn to the following day when I had to skip my classes to recover from my transformations. No one would _ever_ be able to relate to me because I am a werewolf and it hurts to admit that it made my life very lonely and meaningless. But, deep down, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was joining the First Order and being the best that I can be. Although being a werewolf helped with that, who I am as a _person_ is what makes me worthy of my title. I am the First Lieutenant of the First Order first and foremost, a werewolf second. And the very same concept applies to our General. He is a werewolf, same as me, but he is worth more than the werewolf gene ever could be. So that is why I _order_ _you_ to deal with it and put aside your fears, for the First Order and the First Order alone. Hux and I will _never_ be normal, but the Order must go on.

“Hux is still Hux, and you will continue to treat him with the same respect you have always had for him. Yes, he is a werewolf, but he is a _great_ one, and no amount of _fear_ is ever going to change that. You will embrace the fact that we will never be like you. But we are still us and no amount of _fear_ is going to stop us. Am I understood?!”

There was a long, unsettling silence after Mitaka’s explanation. They were all still stunned that they had been working alongside werewolves for who knows how long and yet-

“I understand, Lieutenant Mitaka,” someone up front said.

There was a pause before someone else said, “As do I, Lieutenant Mitaka.”

And with that, everyone else left in the room said, “We understand, Lieutenant Mitaka!”

A wave of relief washed over Mitaka, making him smile briefly. “Thank you for your cooperation. I am sorry we could not tell you sooner, but your safety from us was far more important than ourselves, because we needed every single one of you to stand behind us. But the time for secrets is over. Hux and I came out here to tell you this secret for one reason and one reason only: we have a plan to take the Resistance and Republic by surprise.”

There was some muttering within the crowd at hearing this. By now, Hux had recovered and was grateful to Mitaka and everyone still supporting them, so he came out from behind the podium to stand next to him.

“By now, the opposition knows that attacking us at night once a month would not be beneficial to them, so they would surely attack when we are most vulnerable. That is why Lieutenant Mitaka and I are training to be even stronger than before. It is only a theory, but Mitaka believes that werewolves can change form on a whim. If this theory turns out to be true, then Mitaka and I can become very powerful wolves no matter the time or day. The Resistance might not know this yet, which is why we decided to speak the truth. If we can become wolves, they would not stand a chance against the First Order. _That_ is why we did this. _This_ is why you have to continue standing behind us. Soon, the galaxy will bow down to the First Order! That is our destiny, our purpose in life! And _nothing_ will ever stand in our way of that! Not the Resistance and certainly not the damn _werewolf_ _gene_!”

With that powerful ending, the room erupted in cheer and chanting of the First Order’s name. A look of triumph appeared on Hux’s face at everyone’s quick change of mind and their drive to make the galaxy theirs. Once the room had calmed down and everyone put the werewolf situation behind them, Hux continued with the remainder of his speech and revealed the First Order’s full plan to finish off the Resistance and anyone that stood beside them once and for all. It went by far smoother than the start of the speech and when Hux was done speaking, he turned to Mitaka, smiling faintly.

“That was very brave of you, you know,” he said quietly.

Mitaka glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “Well someone had to save your scrawny ass,” he said with a smirk.

Chuckling, Hux patted him on the back since he wasn’t able to show his usual affections, like rubbing the side of Mitaka’s head with his hand. “Thank you.”

After the meeting was over, Hux dismissed everyone before he and Mitaka left the stage, meeting with Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren, who had showed up halfway through, backstage.

“That was a very moving speech, both of you,” Phasma said. “I’m sure some are still uncertain, but I will whip them into shape.”

Hux nodded. “I know you will.”

“Pretty sure they’d be too afraid to cross you anyway.”

Hux glared weakly at Ren. “The point of coming out is to _banish_ that fear, not make it worse.”

“I’m just saying-”

“You’re not helping!”

Mitaka and Phasma looked at each other with knowing looks as Hux and Ren bickered. Mitaka soon looked back to them.

“Tomorrow is going to be a really busy day, so I’m going to relax for the rest of the day until lights out. Hux, I’m sure the other commanders will want to talk to you about all of this in the morning, so you should do the same.”

Stopping his next retort short, Hux looked at Mitaka. “Yes, you’re right. And you have your first official day of training with Ren tomorrow.”

“Exactly.”

Hux nodded. “Let us go, then.”

After the two werewolves said good night to Phasma and Ren, they moved to Hux’s room and stayed together in there until dinner time. Hours later, they got ready for bed. They got under the bed covers, tried to forget all about that afternoon’s excitement, and attempted to go to sleep. Hux laid flat out on his back while Mitaka laid on his side with his back to him. The Lieutenant had his eyes closed, but Hux’s were wide open in thought. The day had been pretty stressful and definitely a hard one, but the two werewolves had done it. They broke their silence and, for the most part, it had been the right decision. The next few months would be tough, but so long as they had each other, it would be alright. Wouldn’t it?

“Ren’s right, everyone is going to fear us.”

Mitaka’s eyes snapped open before he rolled over a bit to look at Hux’s face of despair. “Before they found out, they weren’t afraid of us. This won’t change that.”

Hux looked at him. “And if they are?”

The two lovers stared at each other silently for a moment, but then Mitaka rolled over, draping his arm over Hux’s body and snuggling up to him. “Then we’ll show them that there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Hux blinked at the reply. They fell silent again. Mitaka had his eyes closed, still trying to fall asleep as he continued to hold Hux. He didn’t know how much time passed before he felt his body being rolled over and a big weight land on top of him. Opening his eyes, Mitaka saw Hux lift his hand to place it on the side of his face, running his thumb over his cheek.

“Who would I have become if it weren’t for you?”

Mitaka smiled lovingly at him. “Still the same old Hux.”

Proudly accepting that answer, Hux slowly went in for a soft, caring kiss, which Mitaka returned with closed eyes. It didn’t take long before they kissed more passionately. Lowering his hands to Hux’s waist, Mitaka dug his fingers into the waistline of his sleep pants and pushed them down while dragging his fingers along the man’s thighs. They soon pulled away for air and stared lustfully at each other.

“I love you m-more than anything else in this u-universe.”

Swallowing his next breath down, Mitaka moved one hand up to squeeze Hux’s hip. “And I love you j-just as m-much.”

Believing each other with every fiber of their being, they made the most passionate love since the first time they lost their virginity together.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I had trouble with the ending. Never EVER ask me for life advice because if I can't write character's giving advice to people, then I definitely can't lmao!

After a partial night of love making, it was now the next morning and Hux and Mitaka were getting ready for Hux’s meeting with the rest of the higher-ups. They had plenty of time for a bit of early morning fun beforehand.

“Ah Hux…!” In the shower and leaning back against the wall, Mitaka gripped Hux’s wet head tighter with each suck on his hardening cock, panting hot air into the steam-filled air. Gripping his hip tight to prevent Mitaka from bucking into his mouth, Hux opened his mouth impossibly wider before forcing himself forward. “AH FUCK!”

Hux had shoved the rest of Mitaka’s length into his mouth and partway down his throat. He did well not to gag or swallow as he continued sucking hard on the erect shaft. Mitaka now had one arm draped over his upper back, practically falling over him as he became weak in the knees. Hux’s mouth was just so hot and wet and-

“ _FUUUCK_!” Mitaka gripped Hux tight when he ejaculated fast and hard all the way down the man’s throat. Hux ended up swallowing it to avoid gagging or coughing it out. When the last drop was gone, he carefully pulled back to not choke. Mitaka was panting as he tried to regain his breath. “You…c-could’ve suffocated, you…y’know!” Swallowing one last time, Hux pressed the side of his face into Mitaka’s belly and forcefully licked at his flesh. “You horn dog.” Hux snorted strangely when he tried to prevent a laugh from bursting out of his mouth. “It isn’t that funny.”

Hux finally lost it since that’s what usually happened when people said something like that. He tried to stifle it by pressing his face into Mitaka’s gut, but it wasn’t helping. It was actually uncomfortable for the Lieutenant since Hux’s nose was pressing into his windpipe. Grabbing under his jaw with both hands, Mitaka pushed his face away to get free. Finally getting the hint, Hux used Mitaka’s hip and wall for support in order to stand up. He then quickly forced their mouths together while pushing him harder against the wall. They kissed passionately for a while before Hux wanted his breath back.

“You taste…so good…”

“That’s disgusting, Hux.”

Chuckling, Hux kissed him once more before freeing him from his clutches. “I think that’s enough trying to relax before this damn meeting starts this morning.”

“It will go just fine.”

They finished showering, got dressed, and Hux slicked his hair back while Mitaka shook his hair up a bit. It would be a waste to gel or mousse it back when he would immediately go to training after the meeting. He was determined to work up a sweat that day, to ensure that he knew how much he could handle under normal circumstances. Mitaka knew Ren wouldn’t go easy on him.

Twenty minutes later, Hux and Mitaka were sitting at the head of the boardroom table, Mitaka on his right. Across from them were his Captains, Colonels, Admirals, and other higher up militia men and women, many of them staring at Hux and Mitaka strangely. The room was dead silent for several seconds, but then Mitaka gave Hux a knowing look. The General cleared his throat before starting.

“I am sure yesterday is still fresh on all of your minds-”

“Damn right it is still fresh on our minds!” Colonel Datoo interrupted rudely. “We are not _trained_ to deal with _monsters_!”

Hux glared weakly at him and his word choice. “That is precisely why we didn’t tell the truth sooner. It was for the safety of the First Order-”

“So now we are to be looking over our shoulders every kriffing night?!”

Next to Hux, Mitaka was staring at the table, but he looked up slightly. “Werebeasts only transform once a month. But-”

Ignoring him, Datoo forced himself up and snapped, “I will not be safe from someone I work with who can kriffing _kill me_ out of _instinct_!”

Nearby, a few people murmured in agreement. Hux glared at all of them in anger. “Those concerns are non-existent. As Lieutenant Mitaka was starting to explain to you before you rudely interrupted him, he and I can control ourselves while transformed on transformation nights. The same will apply in wolf form. No one in the First Order has to fear us _or_ watch their backs!”

“And how do you expect us to trust you on that?! How do you know that you will be consciously aware of your surroundings and those you might encounter once a month?!”

Before Hux could answer, the meeting room door slid open and Kylo Ren walked in, a disgruntled look showing on his face. Everyone turned to him in surprise, and some with fear.

“What General Hux says is true. I know because I am the one that freed their human minds from the beast.” There was more murmurs from many of the seats. Glaring in annoyance, Ren whipped out his lightsaber and turned it on, the orange-red energy sparking a bit. “Besides, the only one you should be afraid of is me if you don’t cooperate with General Hux and Lieutenant Mitaka, you pathetic _cowards_.”

Many stiffened at the threat. After a few seconds hard stare at Ren, Colonel Datoo looked back at Hux with the same contempt look, sitting back down. “I still do not trust any of this, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now. But at the first sign of trouble, I, and many others, are _gone_.”

Hux nodded. “I understand. All I require is for all of you to _trust_ _us_ on this. You cannot let fear cloud your judgment, otherwise the First Order _will_ fail. We will not harm any of you, that I promise you.”

There was a pause, but then a female Admiral asked, “If the Lieutenant was a werewolf first, then how did you become one, General? And how long have we been working for you as one?”

Hux looked at Mitaka for permission to answer. After contemplating the question, Mitaka nodded in approval. Looking back at the whole table, Hux explained how he came to be a werewolf. After the meeting and all questions had been answered, which included how Hux and Mitaka would be training to enhance their werewolf abilities, and what being able to turn into wolves would entail when they went after the Resistance, Hux dismissed them all. He stayed behind with Mitaka and Kylo Ren, who was glaring at everyone as they left. When the door closed and the room was dead silent, Hux released a tired breath.

“This meeting did not go how I thought it would.”

“Well, at least they have a better understanding of werewolves and our plans now,” Mitaka stated optimistically.

Hux glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “It didn’t stop some of them from still having doubts about us. Colonel Datoo poses a problem especially.”

“You can’t please everyone, Hux.”

Ren scratched the back of his head vigorously. “They’ll come around if I have anything to say about it.”

Hux glared weakly at him. “Your _threat_ didn’t help any…”

“I got them to shut up, didn’t I?”

“I had it handled!”

Ren looked off to the side. “Yeah, of course you did.” Hux snorted at Ren’s lack of confidence in him. The Knight then looked at Mitaka. “Come on, we should get you started on training.” Turning around, he headed for the door, asking, “You coming, Hux?”

“No, I have something important to take care of.” Hux looked at Mitaka, who stood up. “I will see you later though.”

Mitaka smiled. “Alright, see you.”

Mitaka left with Kylo Ren to go to their private hologrid room. Mitaka did usual limbering-up exercises and stretches before standing fifteen feet from Ren, who still had his lightsaber out. He turned it on before spreading his legs and bending them at the knee a bit.

“Right now, I just want you to do what feels natural to you. I’m sure instinct will kick itself in eventually.

“Alright.”

“Then let’s begin.”

Nodding, Mitaka got in a similar stance, but he was crouched down low with the tips of his right hand fingers touching the floor. Gritting his teeth, he pressed his bare foot hard against the floor before pushing off and rushing at Ren, his left hand trailing behind him as he got a fist ready. When he was a foot away, he leaped forward, throwing his punch out at Ren’s stomach. Without much effort, the Knight stepped and turned to the left to dodge, and then slammed the hilt against Mitaka’s upper back.

“Ack!”

Ren stood up straight as Mitaka fell to the floor, slightly dazed from the attack and hitting his face on the floor. Ren looked in contempt at him. “Is that really the best you can do?” Lowering his unmasked head, he sighed. “…This is going to take forever.”

Glowering, Mitaka pushed himself up, rubbed his aching face, and then turned to face Ren. “I’m just warming up.”

“Fine, then try again before we try something else.”

Nodding, Mitaka got ready for another attack, thinking more clearly as he rushed at Ren. He thought back to fighting the six Resistance fighters back on the prison planet and how well he fought against them. With that on his mind, Mitaka felt far more confident this time.

The second attempt wasn’t much better. Ren easily dodged any attack Mitaka threw at him, not bothering to attack this time. Eventually, Mitaka miscalculated his next attack and ended up tripping over Ren’s booted foot instead. As he fell, he turned sideways, landed on his back, and then quickly got back up to try tackling into Ren’s back. The Knight flipped backwards over Mitaka’s hunched body, landed with little effort, and then kicked him in the back. Mitaka went flying forward and then skid a few feet forward after crash landing. He lay there for a bit, while Ren shook his head in disappointment at him. Lifting his head off the floor, Mitaka rubbed at the back of it while getting up. He then turned to face Ren, looking disgruntled.

“Maybe I should start with low level holograms. I’m nowhere near your level of fighting expertise yet.”

Ren considered that for a moment, but he had to agree. “It certainly doesn’t hurt to start from the ground and work your way up. I can use the Force on the controls from here. Just give me a minute.”

Mitaka nodded and watched as Ren turned around and moved to the wall directly under the control room that powered the hologrid. “Do you have any tips for me about these holograms?! Do they look like people or-?!”

“I would assume they still look like fighter robots,” Ren answered while using the Force to power the room on. “There are several, different levels of robots to choose from, all with different looks about them. The First Order had them upgraded while Hux and I were searching for you, so they could look like people or aliens instead.”

Mitaka looked like he didn’t like that thought very much. Not because he cringed at the thought of murdering people (he was in the First Order for Snoke’s sake!) but because of the possibility of turning them into werewolves. It was an irrational fear, seeing as the holograms weren’t real, but that thought was always present on Mitaka’s mind. And now, as he stared at Ren with his exposed arms, jaw, and head, Mitaka wasn’t sure if he could fight him in fear of turning him with a single bite either.

“Your lack of confidence in yourself is appalling.” Coming out of his worrying thoughts, Mitaka blinked, seeing Ren coming towards him. “You worry about biting people until after you can turn into a wolf. Until then,” he pointed behind Mitaka, “there’s your first opponent.” Intrigued, Mitaka looked over his shoulder, seeing a robot fighter hologram that was only partially see-through rather than computerized and blue. Ren stopped a few feet from him. “This one will respawn after five hundred hits to it and is immobile for the most part.” Looking back at Ren, Mitaka nodded. “And just remember, it isn’t real.”

Mitaka certainly hoped he could remember that. Turning around, he stared at the hologram, took a deep breath, and then ran towards it at a slow pace to start. Ren stayed far back to observe and take mental notes as Mitaka attacked the hologram whichever way he pleased. After a while, it was clear that Mitaka should have fought with weak holograms to start. If he could take down Resistance fighters with blasters by himself, this low level hologram would be simple; baby steps.

For the first hour, Mitaka faired off against the holo very well, mostly using all manners of punches, some kicks, and so on. Back at the Academy, he had held off using too much strength in order to keep being a werewolf a secret, so he knew how to fight, only now he was able to use his full potential. And, once he was getting right into it, his anxiety about turning anyone went right out the window.

When Mitaka was nearing the five-hundredth hit to the hologram, the hologrid entrance door opened and Hux entered, grumbling to himself. Sensing him coming in, Ren tore his gaze away from Mitaka, who had ducked to slam into the holo to knock it back, to look at him.

“…What is your problem?”

Hux looked up, giving Ren the impression that he was angry about something. “It isn’t any of your business.”

“People are staring at you, aren’t they?”

Hux glared at him. “Stop reading my mind.”

“I didn’t have to.” Snorting, Hux turned away to see what Mitaka was doing. Ren blinked at him. “They would stare at me, too.”

Hux quickly looked back at him but Ren was back to observing Mitaka’s progress. Eyes narrowing slightly, Hux looked towards Mitaka as well, seeing him knock down the holo with a roundhouse kick. When it hit the floor, it vanished and Mitaka landed in a crouch. He was breathing heavily since he hardly took a break and there was a sheen of sweat on his brow. Sniffing in hard for more oxygen, he pushed himself up and stood, then turned around to look at Ren.

“How did I do-? Oh, um, hey, Hux.”

Mitaka felt slightly embarrassed that Hux had seen him, not realizing until then that it would be awkward with him watching too. He hoped it would pass…

“Well I did tell you that instinct would kick in, so you did well enough for such a low level holo,” Ren answered. “But an immobile object is too simple to battle, so I want you to fight one that knows offense for comparison.”

“I can do that.”

“Then give me a minute to set one up.”

“Alright.” While Ren got the next hologram ready, Mitaka smiled at Hux. “Would you like to train with me?”

“I-” Pausing, Hux looked off to the side, finishing, “-don’t know.”

Mitaka blinked suspicious eyes at him. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t-”

Whatever Hux said, it was too quiet for Mitaka to hear.

“What-?”

Jerking his gaze back at Mitaka, Hux quickly said, “I don’t want to look like a fool, alright.”

Mitaka stared at Hux strangely. “All we’d be doing is hand-to-hand combat. What’s so foolish about that?”

Hux looked away again as Ren finished his task. “That is not what I’m talking about.”

“Talking about what?”

Mitaka eyed Hux for a few more seconds before looking at Ren, who stopped a few feet from them. “It’s nothing.” Looking at the hologram several feet away, Mitaka headed towards it. “I’ll try not to make a _fool_ of myself for the next few minutes.”

A quizzical look appeared on Ren’s face. “A what?” Mitaka just waved his hand through the air a few times before rushing at the new hologram, which got into a defensive stance. Ren looked at Hux, who wasn’t looking at anyone. “What was that all about?”

“Oh just watch the damn training,” Hux snapped as he turned around and headed for the door. “You two can train without me.”

Ren snorted at Hux’s retreating back. “Suit yourself.” After Hux left and the door closed behind him, Ren added, “But come back when you have a better attitude next time.”

Shaking his head in disapproval, Ren returned to watching Mitaka practice for the next two hours.

* * *

Hux was never one to go to someone for advice, aside from Mitaka when he was first learning how to live with being a werewolf, but today was different. Today, he needed advice; a lot of it. And there was only one other person he knew to go to, he just needed to locate her first.

The first place Hux looked was the other training facilities located in different parts of the base. He knew Phasma was still training the recruits and retraining the First Order’s original numbers, it was all a matter of finding out in which place. After the fourth check, he found her watching several Stormtroopers testing out their new special blasters that were in the final stretch of the prototype stage.

As Hux approached her, he asked, “Captain, may I have a word?”

Hearing his voice as he came up behind her, Phasma turned slightly before giving him a nod. “Yes, General, what is it?”

Hux stopped a few feet from her, trying to ignore the Stormtroopers glancing their way in curiosity. “Privately.”

Nodding, Phasma turned to a trainer that was helping instruct the Stormtroopers on how to use the weapons. “Keegar, take over.”

“Yes Captain.”

Turning all the way around, Phasma followed Hux out of the training room and found a place outside with shade and privacy thanks to the trees there. Hux stared at one of them for a few seconds before speaking.

“You are the only one I can speak with about this, Phasma. You have been nothing but supportive of me ever since you found out Mitaka and I were mates, so I know you will not judge me for what I am about to say.”

Phasma was silent for a second as she waited for Hux to continue, but he didn’t. Whatever was on his mind must really be eating him up inside.

“I know I come off as cold, General, but ever since I saw Dopheld in pain the day Starkiller destroyed the Republic, I have become much more attune to those in trouble. Your secrets are always safe in my hands.”

Nothing happened for a moment, but then Hux turned around while looking up at Phasma. “I know, and thank you.”

“Now, what is bothering you, sir?”

Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh, Hux said, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Do what?”

“Become a wolf.”

“How do you know if you haven’t tried?”

Hux shook his head. “I don’t mean like that. If Mitaka can do it, then I can too, but…” Phasma waited patiently and silently for Hux to continue with his explanation. Looking off to the side and glaring weakly with distaste, Hux finally finished, “I just don’t want to look like a _fool_ …”

“There are very few circumstances in which you would look foolish, Hux, but becoming a powerful wolf? …That is _not_ one of them.”

Hux released a soft breath from his nose while he looked at the ground. “I appreciate your vote of confidence, Phasma, but I still… The Order’s judgment of me is still ever so present on my mind.”

“I understand, but they will accommodate you and Mitaka soon enough. They just need time to adjust to these newer changes. We have made so much progress already, so getting used to two werewolves won’t be as difficult as everyone believes it will be. I have faith in you, just as Mitaka and Ren do, and soon the First Order will too. Until then, Ren and I will keep them in line, that I promise you.” Gripping his shoulder in encouragement, Phasma added, “If Mitaka can get through this, Hux, then you can too.”

Hux didn’t know what to say to this. Could he believe in Phasma’s words and get past the First Order’s first impressions of him being a werewolf? Did he have enough faith in all of them that they would feel the right way about him soon? How could he move past the First Order’s time to process and cope with all of this in the meantime? He needed someone that wasn’t Ren or Mitaka to confide in.

Looking down from Phasma’s face, Hux said, “I appreciate you allowing me to confide in you, Phasma. I need some more time to think this through.”

After a gentle squeeze, Phasma lowered her hand from Hux’s shoulder. “I will leave you to it, then.” Hux just nodded, not looking back up. Turning around, Phasma headed back towards base while Hux moved closer to the trees for some better cover. Stopping a few feet away, Phasma turned back, giving Hux a thoughtful look. “If it would put your mind at ease, General, it would be my honor to train you in the evenings.”

Hux was silent for a moment before he glanced up at her. “I will consider that, thank you.”

“If and when you are ready, you know where to find me.”

“Okay…”

With an encouraging nod, Phasma turned back around and headed back for the base, leaving Hux alone in his thoughts so that he could think back to all she had said. Phasma sincerely hoped he would feel better sooner rather than later, for everyone’s sake…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: August 26th (Saturday)


	15. Chapter 15

Hux stayed on his own to think for a while after Phasma returned to training her Stormtroopers. However, he ended up falling asleep, leaned up against the tree he had used for his thinking spot. It was possibly the most needed sleep he had in a long time, and no one had a clue.

It was now getting late and a nice breeze was blowing through the branches of the trees. It gently blew across Hux’s relaxed face, bits of fallen hair ghosting over his forehead. He was lucky that no one from the First Order could see him in such a vulnerable state, otherwise he’d be worrying about that, too.

A new darkness ascended upon Hux out of nowhere, and a bare foot landed close to his folded legs. Standing above him and looking down with a blank, narrow-eyed stare was Mitaka, blinking at him with his head slightly atilt to the right. Mitaka watched him for a bit, trying to decide if he should wake Hux up or lay beside him. He was still miffed about Hux’s “I don’t want to look like fool” comment and, ever since he finished his training for the day, had been trying to decipher what Hux meant. Did he mean Hux’s training would be foolish looking or that the whole idea of training was foolish? If Hux didn’t want to advance in his werewolf abilities, then why did he even agree to it in the first place?

“Going to watch me like that all night or you gonna lay with me?”

Mitaka blinked in surprise, not noticing that Hux was glancing at him from the corner of his eye until he spoke softly. He quickly jerked his face away and practically pouted.

“After your attitude earlier, I don’t think I want to.”

Hux snorted softly, knowing what Mitaka was referring to. “If you would let me explain it to you…”

Mitaka glanced at him from the corner of his softly glaring eye. “That’d be nice.”

Sighing, Hux sat up to get into a more comfortable position, then reached for Mitaka’s hand. Mitaka, reluctantly, let him pull him closer and down to join him on the ground. Hux then grabbed both of his hands, staring at them.

“What I meant earlier was, I don’t feel that training would make me look like a fool, but being a wolf in general feels like, to myself, as foolish.” Looking up at Mitaka’s less angry face now, Hux added, “You being able to become a wolf would be the greatest thing to happen in the galaxy…”

There was a long pause.

“So you _do_ want to train?” Mitaka soon asked, his disappointment fading away.

Smiling, Hux pulled Mitaka to him, unfolding his legs so that they laid side-by-side. Holding him with his arms around his upper body, Hux nuzzled Mitaka’s head with the side of his own.

“If you want to be a wolf, then I want to be one too.” Mitaka glanced at the side of Hux’s head as the man rested against him. Inhaling deeply, Mitaka relaxed on Hux and closed his eyes to rest with him. It was a nice night to do this, he had to admit. “I spoke with Phasma earlier about how I was feeling since I needed a fresh pair of thoughts to work with. She has been very good to both of us, so I wanted to confide in her before I spoke to you about it.”

“I understand.”

Looking down at Mitaka, Hux lifted his face by the chin to look at him properly. “I am still trying to get past how the First Order feels about us being werewolves; it’s what’s holding me back right now. But, Phasma offered to train me in the evenings in order to help me overcome these feelings. She assured me that everything will be fine soon. Its taken me all day to accept that.”

Mitaka gave Hux a quick kiss on the cheek before saying, “That’s good.”

Touching his cheek with his finger, Hux stared into Mitaka’s eyes, looking sincere. “Everything will be alright soon, I know it will.”

Closing their eyes, they kissed, Mitaka agreed with him, returned to kissing, and then Hux grabbed around Mitaka to lay them down on the ground. If someone came out and saw them, they didn’t care. If the First Order could handle having two werewolves in their ranks, then they could handle having two men in love as well.

“I love you,” Mitaka said as he looked up at Hux after a pause.

Hux smiled gratefully down at him. “I love you too.”

They then went back to making out, long after the sun went down and the stars began to shine high above.

* * *

A few months and one week came and went since Mitaka’s first training day and he was making some good progress. He and Ren had decided to try transforming in stages, starting with Mitaka being able to grow out claws on his hands and feet. Once he accomplished that, they would work on fangs to go with the claws. Trying to figure out _how_ Mitaka would accomplish that had been the tricky part, but it was all in how someone visualized the claws and fangs appearing. If Mitaka could vividly see himself growing claws and fangs, then it would work in reality. So far, it wasn’t working out, but Mitaka could feel it fast approaching. He just needed a bit more time…

It was now week two of the fourth month and Mitaka was heading down a mostly deserted corridor of the base for training after lunch. On the way, he was approaching two newly-transferred soldiers sitting on a wall bench. When he saw Mitaka, one hit the other in the arm to get his attention.

“Hey, watch this,” he whispered, so that Mitaka couldn’t hear (he could). “Hey Lieutenant! Woof, woof!”

Mitaka just rolled his eyes as the two laughed at the actually not funny joke while high-fiving each other. As Mitaka was turning a corner, the one that spoke suddenly made a choking noise and made a loud thud as he collapsed to the floor.

“Hey, what the kriff?!”

Mitaka made it to the hologrid and approached the middle of it, where Ren stood waiting. His arm was up, but when he saw Mitaka, he dropped it, looking as if he hadn’t been doing anything.

“You don’t _have_ to Force choke people for me, Ren.”

“Oh I know, but I _want_ to do it.”

Stopping a few feet away, Mitaka began to rotate his shoulder to limber up. “You’re too nice for your own good, you know.”

“Okay, now I’m just offended.” Mitaka chuckled. Taking out his lightsaber, Ren turned it on at his side. “You really need to step up your game today. The Supreme Ruler isn’t very happy at the slow progression. If you can’t transform into a wolf at will soon, then we will just have to attack the Resistance at night on transformation nights, which isn’t ideal.”

Mitaka sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“Then come at me with everything you’ve got.”

Nodding, Mitaka aligned his legs a certain way in order to be on all fours, concentrated hard to grow out fangs and claws, and decided on how he would attack before rushing at Ren. When he was feet away, he pushed off the floor hard, jumping high in the air and then coming down at the Knight with his fingers ready to strike his face. Jerking his arm out to the side, Ren quickly spun around to the left, dodging them easily. Mitaka landed on all fours, then swiftly threw himself around, clawing at Ren again. For a split second, something seemed to flash, but disappeared as soon as it came. The Knight quickly lifted the lightsaber in front of his chest to block the strike. Almost instantly, Mitaka ducked down, while jerking his body to the right, and then threw his leg up as he jumped into the air to sideways kick Ren at his windpipe. Mitaka tried to knock him over backwards, but Ren merely fell back, placed his hands on the floor, and then landed back on his feet after a flip. Finishing his kick in a roundhouse to land, Mitaka dragged his fingers across the floor while picturing claws creating sparks as he threw his arms to the side, and then charged again.

For the first hour, they exchanged blows quite often, Mitaka had managed to get a few fast punches in with quick succession, and Ren had his lightsaber knocked out of his hands a few times. On hour two, Ren wouldn’t use his lightsaber, and instead would try to attack Mitaka with the Force. With his training, Mitaka’s eyesight had gotten far better, which thinking of claws forming on his hands had been a big help, so he was able to keep up with Ren’s swiftness quite well. It also allowed him to see the Force much more clearly now, and dodging and moving in for an attack was easier.

When a blast of the Force came at him, Mitaka swerved to the side, moved forward a few feet, and then moved back to his original pathway, doing this a few times until he was feet from Ren. Ducking down from another Force blast, Mitaka shoved hard off the floor to attack Ren head on again. Taking one step back, Ren fired another Force blast directly at Mitaka’s face, believing it would knock him back. What happened instead shocked them both.

Mitaka did the only thing he thought he could do, which put a look of surprised disbelief on his face. Reaching forward with his right hand, he slammed it onto the top of the energy blast and then immediately flipped over it, managing to kick Ren in the face with his foot. The Knight’s head jerked back hard and he flew back before crashing into the floor, sliding several feet away. The blast vanished after a few seconds of being pushed back. Still in awe at what he did, Mitaka didn’t have time to prevent the surely nasty fall onto his spine.

“ARK!”

Mitaka ended up crashing on his back, but he also smashed his head pretty good on the floor. Gritting his teeth, he growled in pain and curled up on his side, unable to move from the jarring hit. Ahead of him, Ren was rolling onto his side, placing a hand to his throbbing face, and then a faint growl came from him.

“You w-werewolves and your…f-fat feet,” Ren grumbled. Shaking his head after a few seconds, he sat up and then looked to Mitaka. When the Knight didn't see him moving, concern filled him. “Mit, you okay?!”

From this angle, Ren couldn’t get a good look at Mitaka’s face, but he would feel uncertain if he could. After months of trying, Mitaka’s canine teeth had grown longer, thicker, and more blunt, and flashing claws had grown long and sharp on his hands. But those weren’t the only changes that happened after hitting his head. His pupils were a slit and his human ears were disappearing to be replaced by his tall werewolf ears. His teeth were clenched together for a few more seconds, but then they parted, a louder growling coming from his throat. In a flash, he was suddenly on his hands and feet after somersaulting backwards, looking up from his crouched position at Ren. When the Knight saw Mitaka’s face, teeth, and claws, his eyes widened.

“Haaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr…”

“Shit!” Quickly rolling over, Ren shoved himself to his feet while trying to bolt forward, but Mitaka was far faster. Ren barely made it a few feet before he was shoved onto the floor, Mitaka’s weight slamming into him. _‘Crap, crap crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!’_

Slamming both clawed hands against Ren’s upper back, Mitaka dug his sharper nails through the fabric of his shirt to get a strong grip, and then rolled to the right, pulling Ren with him. When most of his body was free, Mitaka threw Ren away, rolled back onto hands and feet, and then charged at him. What was most frightening about what was happening was that it took all but two seconds to land on Ren, grab a hold of him, and then roll over and throw him. Ren bounced across the floor a few times before he slid up onto his feet while facing Mitaka. He didn't even have time to make a strangled noise before Mitaka clawed him in the stomach and chest after striking with an uppercut.

Flying back, Ren wanted to flip over and land on his feet, but he felt more claws slam into his chest hard, forcing him further back than the uppercut. He suddenly cried out when his body hit the hologrid wall and he fell forward. His body didn’t even meet the floor before he was kicked from the left side, sending him flying again. The next several attacks were inhumanly fast and Ren couldn’t even defend himself from them.

Ren was kicked, thrown, slammed into the floor several times, and then finally rose up into the air, his back facing the floor. One eye was closed while the other began to open, and he growled behind gritted teeth. Once more, he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of Mitaka before he was punched so hard in the gut that spit came flying from his gaping mouth as he flew towards the floor. Within seconds, Ren slammed hard enough into the floor to knock him out for a few seconds. When he came around, he could hardly move. He hacked up more spit when some got stuck in his throat before laying still and groaning faintly. Ren suddenly jumped when he heard Mitaka land on the floor a foot behind his head. Laying absolutely still, the Knight waited with held breath for Mitaka to come towards him, who was growling faintly at first. Ren slammed his eyes shut, waiting to find out what the werewolf would do next.

“Dopheld, that’s enough!” Ren flinched when he heard a split-second snarl behind him. His body tensed up when he felt Mitaka walk up to his shoulder, growling at whoever had arrived. Ren dared not breathe as the werewolf stepped one hand over him, laying it between his armpit and side. He didn't even want to risk opening his eyes, in fear of what he would see. “Get away from him; _now_!”

“Harrrrg…”

“What the _kriff_ did I just _say_?!”

“Ha-aRRRRK!”

“Sheesus!”

Ren felt Mitaka bolt right over his body, making the fur on his hood dance from the wind created. Quickly sitting up, he looked to where the Lieutenant was going, seeing Hux near the middle of the hologrid. Ren’s eyes widened.

“Hux, you can’t-!”

Mitaka was far too fast for that half-finished warning to reach Hux’s ears. After running on all fours super fast, he jumped into the air, opening his mouth wide and snarling to bite Hux. However, just a few inches away from him, Mitaka slammed into an invisible barrier that blasted him with plasma energy rather than electricity.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!”

After touching the barrier for three seconds, Mitaka flew back, hitting and bouncing against the floor a few times before landing on his chest and belly and sliding backwards. His claws left faint grooves in the floor. He soon stopped, unmoving, and with his face down. Nothing happened for a while, but then his werewolf ears shrunk and then disappeared, and his claws and teeth followed soon after at a gradual pace.

The hologrid went dead quiet once the barrier disappeared. Near the opposite end of the room, Ren carefully got to his feet, moving as silent as the dead as not to alert Mitaka. He was breathing hard, but he was able to keep most of it in his chest. His body was aching and his knees were slightly bent. Near the hologrid door, Hux’s tense body relaxed when he sensed that Mitaka was unconscious. Closing his eyes, he sighed.

“You can relax, now, Ren.” The Knight released a hard breath now that he was able to make noise. Hux walked over to Mitaka, crouched down, and then gently shook his shoulder. “Mitaka? Mitaka, can you hear me? …Mitaka?”

With his breath regained, Ren approached the two werewolves, wrapping an arm around his stomach. “What happened? Why did he go out of his mind like that?”

Hux shook his head before petting Mitaka’s head now. It didn’t appear that he’d wake up any time soon. “I don’t know.” Ren stopped by Mitaka’s side, crouched down, and then placed a gloved hand on the back of his head. Hux looked up at the Knight in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“Checking for whatever happened.” For a few minutes, Ren used the Force to check Mitaka’s memories and the feelings he had before he went out of his mind. When he was done, he stood up. “He hit his head really hard on the floor, which triggered the beast to emerge and take over. It was a coping mechanism, I guess.”

Nodding, Hux lifted Mitaka up with surprising strength for a weak-muscled human, and then got him into his arms as he stood. He also pulled Mitaka’s arms over his shoulders. After hoisting him up high enough to get a good grip on him, Hux looked at Ren.

“That theory may correlate with something he told me a long time ago.”

“Which was?”

Turning, Hux headed for the door, carrying Mitaka. “I will explain it on the way.” Nodding, Ren followed behind Hux, keeping an eye on Mitaka’s exhausted face as his head lay limp on Hux’s shoulder. They ignored the curious and weird stares from anyone they passed by as they headed for the sleeping quarters of the ship. “Do you remember when you Force-choked Mitaka?”

Shame appeared on Ren’s face. “Don’t remind me.”

“Anyway, after you almost suffocated him and threw him into the wall, he said he lost some restraint because of the beast trying to take over his mind. Luckily, you didn’t see him go into a rage, thus causing a chain reaction to reveal what he was, which is what broke him out of it, because the threat was gone.”

Ren stopped in his tracks for a moment. “Oh.” Shaking his head after a second, he took long strides to reach Hux again. “So since I caused him to hit the floor hard, the beast went after me.”

“Correct.”

“Well technically speaking, Mitaka is the one that shoved my Force blast away and then flipped over, kicking me in the face-”

Hux abruptly stopped and turned on his heel, looking surprised. Ren almost walked into him. “He did _what_?”

“Well my face is fine, I-”

“No, not that! He _shoved_ the Force away?!”

“I know, I was surprised too-”

“He touched the Force?!”

Ren looked slightly annoyed at having to repeat himself. “Yeah, and?”

“How?!”

“How the kriff should I know?!” Hux was speechless at this phenomenal news. He was aware that they could see the energy of all living things, but to be able to _touch it_? There was just no damn way, and yet- Turning on his heel again, Hux walked briskly away from Ren, who stared after him in confusion. “Where are you going?! Hux!” Ren made to run after him, but he stopped when Hux turned a corner quickly. The Knight stood there, dumbstruck, wondering why Hux was taking this way harder than Ren himself was. It was intriguing and a little weird that Mitaka could touch the Force, but Hux seemed to react worse to the news than anyone else. But why? Out of the corner of his eye, Ren saw a few Stormtroopers staring at him, trying to decipher what just happened. His eyes narrowed at them. “What are _you_ looking at?”

Two jumped and one stood stiff at attention, saluting Ren swiftly before holding onto his blaster with both hands. “Sorry sir! Won’t happen again!”

Ren snorted at him before turning around and heading for Snoke’s chamber. If anyone could give him insight on Mitaka’s newfound abilities, it would be his master. He would tell Hux all about the results later.

Meanwhile, Hux reached his and Mitaka’s room, went to the bed, and then laid him down on the covers. He got Mitaka’s arms off his shoulders, laid them down gently to the bed, and then sat at the edge to stare at him. Hux was still in a state of disbelief at what Ren had told him about Mitaka being able to touch the Force. It was one thing for Mitaka’s hands s to touch the plasma of the kyber crystal in Ren’s two lightsabers, but touching the Force was another matter entirely. How was that even possible? Mitaka couldn’t be Force Sensitive. Could he?

‘ _Well what the galactic hell_ _ **else**_ _would it_ _ **be**_ _?!’_

Hux didn’t know what to think or believe in. He just assumed being able to see all life energy was something werebeasts could just do, Force Sensitive or not. Did that just mean Hux was too? And if yes, then how much more powerful could the two werewolves become?

Sighing, Hux looked back at Mitaka once his thoughts were done, reaching for his forehead with his left hand. He pushed sweaty bangs off his lover’s forehead, hoping that this newfound discovery would help them in the long run, rather than cause them even worse problems. Mitaka didn’t deserve anymore grief.

“Please don’t become something we’ll both regret…” Hux whispered.

Sighing, Hux stood up, walked around to the other side of the bed, and got on behind Mitaka. He scooted close enough to him to be aligned with his head, pressed his right side on Mitaka’s body, and then placed an arm over him. Then, laying his head down while pressing his forehead to Mitaka’s, Hux closed his eyes to try falling asleep, hoping nothing more would go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: ??? (I only got chapter 15 done quickly was because I had written most of the chapter in advance (unplanned) and just needed a beginning and make some edits)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As stated on Tumblr, this would either be the last chapter or hopefully the second to last chapter. Likely this book will end with 17 chapters in total!
> 
> When will I start posting book 3? Right now, I have chapter 1 marked for January 1st on Trello since its ready. Ideally, I'd like to get more chapters done before uploading. I have a bunch of future WIPs that most still need to become full chapters, so it may be a while before I can start posting book 3. All I know is that it'll be a fairly long one and may or may not take another year or more to complete. I will do the best I can to succeed!

It was early evening when Mitaka woke up from unconsciousness. His body ached, but he didn’t know why. He couldn’t remember much of anything from that day aside from morning training. Something was wrapped around his middle, so he glanced down, seeing Hux’s arm and part of a bed. He then looked around, realizing he was, in fact, in a bedroom, or, more specifically, the one he and Hux shared. How had he ended up there?

“’Ey, Hux?”

Mitaka felt Hux shift somewhat quickly behind him. He could feel his head hovering over him to get a good look at him.

“Mitaka, are you alright?”

Mitaka noted the somewhat worried tone of voice and he immediately thought that something was wrong. “My body hurts…”

“Do you remember anything that happened today?”

Now Mitaka was really concerned by Hux’s tone. He tried to roll over to look at him, but Hux was in the way, so he didn’t get very far. “Why do you sound upset?” Once he got turned enough around, Mitaka finally saw the look on Hux’s face. “What’s wrong?”

Hux stared at him a little longer before looking at Mitaka’s arm and gently running his fingers down it. “Ren told me about you touching the Force with your bare hand…”

Mitaka glanced down at the hand gently massaging his skin. “Is that bad?”

Wrapping his arm back around him, Hux looked back at Mitaka’s face. “I certainly hope not…”

“It didn’t hurt me. I was a little surprised, but-”

“There’s more…”

They were silent for a bit as they stared at each other, Hux still looking concerned about the whole ordeal that happened hours before. Looking down at the arm wrapped around him, Mitaka gently laid his hand on it and then tried rolling over more. They both shifted to get comfortable on their sides and Mitaka draped his arms over Hux’s shoulders and wrapped them around his upper back. Hux nearly engulfed Mitaka as they pressed their bodies together. Mitaka lifted his face to softly kiss against Hux’s throat.

“Let’s worry about this later, okay?”

Hux wrapped his arms tighter around Mitaka. “Just…don’t lose what little innocence you have as you get stronger, okay? I couldn’t stand to…see you become something you’re not meant to be, not ever.”

Smiling weakly, Mitaka pressed his head under Hux’s chin while embracing him tighter. “I promise not to change.”

Hux inhaled deeply, held it for a few seconds, and then slowly released it from his mouth. “I love you, so much…”

Smiling a little more, Mitaka closed his eyes while rubbing his head against Hux’s neck. “I love you too, my big strong woof.”

Smile gradually disappearing as sleep began to consume him, Mitaka curled up into Hux, which gave the redhead the hint to get his knees bent and up around Mitaka’s legs. As their heat warmed them, they both drifted off to sleep, not knowing just how completely wrong they would eventually be…

* * *

The bright red light of a normal saber swished from one side to another, the tip just barely missing the bare belly of Dopheld Mitaka as he threw himself back to avoid the strike. As the lightsaber twirled around for a new attack, he quickly ducked, sharp claws clinking on the floor of the hologrid. He then jerked to the side to dodge an overhead strike. His fingers glided on the floor in the move, and then he pushed up to stand.

“I’m not seeing any teeth!”

As Kylo Ren charged at Mitaka for another attack, the Lieutenant lifted his hands, aligning the backings with his sternum. As the pulsing blade came flying from a backhand swing, he quickly grabbed the lightsaber, jerked his body around to the right to have his side face Ren, and then used all the strength he could muster to flip Ren over his body. As the Knight dropped to the floor, Mitaka yanked the lightsaber out of his hands, stood up straight, and then quickly backed up as Ren tried to recover. Flipping the lightsaber around to hold the hilt in his left hand, Mitaka shook his right hand to make the heat sensation go away quicker.

“Its harder since I can’t actually see my mouth and picture fangs growing as I fight you,” Mitaka stated. Kylo Ren began to get up as Mitaka added, “As for my hands, I can see them just fine.”

Ren dusted himself off out of reflex before turning around to face Mitaka. “If you have to, use a mirror tonight and ingrain the image into your brain for tomorrow. Lightsaber.” Pushing the button on the hilt, Mitaka turned down the kyber crystal and then tossed it back to Ren, who caught it easily. “I think that’s enough training for today. In an hour, Hux and Phasma will be taking over this place. Has he given you any updates on his training with her?”

Mitaka joined Ren and they left the hologrid together. “No, they thought it best if they keep it entirely secret. Hux isn’t sure about even participating in our plan still.”

Ren rolled his eyes. “You would think he’d get over it by now.”

Mitaka glanced at some First Order members walking around. “It’s just hard on him when they don’t mind their own business.”

Confused, Ren saw where Mitaka was looking and noticed people quickly looking away when they realized Mitaka was watching. The Knight’s eyes narrowed in a glare.

“Take a damn snapshot, it’ll last longer!”

Everyone close-by briskly scampered away in fright at the harsh tone. Mitaka shook his head at Ren. “While we appreciate what you’re trying to do, that’s not helping.”

Looking back forward, Ren snorted. “I can’t help it. I did it enough times when I kept getting stares years back that they finally stopped. It’s a reflex.”

“Well I mean you can, but you just choose not to.”

Ren smiled as he glanced at Mitaka. “Yeah, but its amusing to see their reaction.” Mitaka playfully elbowed Ren in the ribs before they turned a corner. “Anyway, good work today. I never saw your claws disappear once.”

“They’re second nature to me now.”

“That’s good. Now if only your fangs would be the same way…”

“I will do better tomorrow.” Once they reached the first level of sleeping quarters, they said good night to each other and then went their separate ways. When he returned to his room, Mitaka would do what Ren suggested about the mirror and ingrain his face into his mind by studying it for an hour or so. Minutes later and he walked through the door after it slid open and looked around for Hux. The redhead was at his desk, reading something on his datapad. “Hey.”

Perking up at the voice, Hux glanced back, blinking. “How was training?”

Mitaka went to the closet to get fresh attire to wear to bed. “It went really well. My claws stay on my hands when I’m not extensively focusing on them now.”

“Did you keep a level head?”

Going to the bathroom doorway, Mitaka looked back at Hux. “The entire time. Gonna shower before I try something with a mirror for an hour or two.”

“Alright, I will see you later tonight, then.”

“Or in the morning.”

“Then good night.”

Smiling and nodding, Mitaka entered the bathroom and got in the hot shower. Hux returned to his datapad for another half hour before he left to join Phasma outside in a secluded place rather than the hologrid. He figured the fresh air and bitter wind would help him remain calm and focused. Unlike with Mitaka’s training, Hux wouldn’t be sparring or fighting Phasma, rather the two of them meditated together and Hux would listen to Phasma instruct him on what to do when it came to transforming his body. It was quite helpful since her voice was always so methodical sounding and in some ways soothing. Hux still had an awful way to go to reach his goals though.

“Good evening, Hux.”

Joining Phasma by the cliff face that was a ten-minute walking distance from the base, Hux sat down across from her in the lotus position, his hands on his knees.

“Before we start, I wanted to thank you for all your help these last few months. I think we can advance in my training soon, now that I’ve gotten used to ignoring the stares and whispers.”

“It’s been my pleasure, sir. And I agree. Starting next week, we should train in the hologrid.”

Nodding, Hux closed his eyes, took a deep breath to relax his body and mind, and then began to meditate. For the next half hour, neither spoke so that Hux could drift completely into himself. Gradually, the wind began to pick up around them and he could feel his hair move gently in the breeze. It was quite chilly this evening, but it helped Hux feel numb, which in turn made him feel as one with the spiritual world. In his mind, he began to see his surroundings as if he was using echolocation, seeing darkness and blue energy waves on everything. Soon, he felt all alone and one with the universe.

Out in the real world and staring at him, Phasma no longer meditated as she observed Hux. He didn’t move a single muscle and his breathing was so faint that it looked like he wasn’t breathing at all. Phasma had seen him like this many times during their time together, so it wasn’t impressive anymore. It was now time for the next step in their meditation ritual.

Speaking softly and slowly in her metallic voice, Phasma said, “Hux, if you can hear me, inhale once to confirm.” There was a few seconds pause, but then Hux’s upper body moved up a few centimeters as he breathed in deep. “Very good… Now, I want you to focus your mind on the darkness in front of you. When you have done it, inhale once again.” While Phasma instructed Hux on what to do, in his mind, he heard her voice all around him, like a whisper on the wind. For the next hour he did everything she said, eventually not even hearing her voice as he did everything he was told. “…Everything connected, focus only on one part of yourself. Concentrate solely on that one thing and picture it as vividly as you can in your mind. Once you see it as clear as a cloudless day, bring it into yourself and expel it out into the real world. Take your time, I will wait patiently for it to appear.”

Still keeping up his breathing and concentration, Hux did what Phasma said and picked his claws for his right hand to start with. In front of him, the image he conjured up in his mind stepped one paw forward, the claws and toes spreading apart. They then began to fade away in what appeared to be smoke, but it moved towards Hux’s position instead of disappearing from existence. In the physical world, Hux’s right hand on his knee very slowly began to lift into the air on its own. Phasma watched intently at what was happening as Hux’s nails gradually began to lengthen and get sharp, knowing it was working. The only question was, when Hux came out of his meditative state, would the claws remain with him or disappear without his consent?

For about two minutes, Hux was able to keep his hand raised with the claws still there, not shaking or moving at all. Phasma was silent for a few more seconds before calling out to him again.

“It is time to come back, Hux. Keep your mind focused as you open your eyes, and look at your right hand. In three, two, one…”

Exhaling out of his mouth, normal color began to seep back into Hux’s vision and he could feel the air and light of the real world return to his skin. He kept picturing the claws on his hand, even as he began to open his eyes and breathe normally again. When he was almost out of his trance, Hux turned his palm towards himself so that he could look closely at his claws, which he could feel were there. He was almost ready to open his eyes when the hand tensed up and then fell, jolting him awake. For just a moment as his eyes snapped open, he saw the claws glinting in the moonlight before they vanished, as if they hadn’t been there at all. Frustration quickly built up inside of Hux and he curled his had into a fist in order to punch his thigh. Upon seeing the disappointed look on his face, Phasma knew he was upset.

“It’s alright, Hux, you did well. You stayed in meditation with your claws on your hand for a good two minutes before you came out of it. You’re making good progress.”

Hux was glaring at his legs as he thought about what he failed to do. “It’s not _good_ _enough_! They need to stay out when I’m conscious!”

“You just need more time-”

Jerking his head and gaze up, Hux snapped, “We are running _out_ of _time_!”

“Hux, it has only been eight months since the destruction of Starkiller. If we need a year or more to recover, then the Resistance will need it longer. They are without allies to help them, while the First Order recruits new soldiers every day. You need to have more faith in your people, but more importantly yourself. Starkiller wasn’t built in a single day, it took years. And let’s not forget, you haven’t been a werewolf as long as Mitaka has, so of course he will have the advantage over you. Not succeeding yet doesn’t make you a failure, it just means you learn differently. I know its frustrating, but you need to accept the fact that turning into a wolf won’t be as easy for you as it possibly is for Mitaka. I know you’re better than this, so you need to keep a level head. You will grasp transformation eventually, but you can’t keep having this kind of _reaction anymore_.”

The two high-ranked officers stared hard at each other for a time, but Hux soon slumped his shoulders and posture. He then looked off to the side as his face softened in defeat, and then he let out a heavy sigh.

“You’re right, Phasma. If I continue to react negatively when something doesn’t work, then I will never get stronger.”

“…I know you have wanted to keep your training a secret from Mitaka, but perhaps he can give you pointers on how to keep your claws out when you’re conscious. If you can incorporate his methods with ours, it might help you.”

Looking back at her, Hux nodded. “I will observe his training tomorrow to get an idea on what more I should do.”

“That’s a good start. We will discuss your findings tomorrow night. For now, let’s continue meditating before the night is done.”

Nodding, Hux reset his body, took a deep breath, and then began meditation once more.

* * *

It was the next morning and Mitaka woke up to find Hux passed out on his side with his back to him. Not wanting to wake him, Mitaka slowly sat up, turned slightly towards the edge of the bed, and quietly got his legs out from under the covers. He eventually stood up and was heading for the bathroom to pee. Not bothering to look back at Hux, Mitaka entered the bathroom, used the toilet, and then splashed cold water on his face to help bring him out of his tired state. He then left and went to the dresser that Mitaka and Hux shared to get dressed for breakfast and his morning workout routine. Around that time, Ren should be up and joining him in the hologrid for training.

Going to the front door finally, Mitaka glanced back at Hux, who was still sound asleep. Perhaps he trained through half the night last night, Mitaka mused.

‘ _Always the overachiever,’_ he thought with a small smile, before finally leaving and heading off.

“Good morning, Lieutenant Mitaka.”

As he had been heading towards the mess hall to grab some food and drink orange juice, Mitaka met up with Phasma after he turned the corner. He smiled at her when they were standing in front of each other.

“Good morning, Captain.”

“Please, call me Phasma.”

“Sure!”

“Is Hux still asleep?”

“When I left he was, yes,” Mitaka replied. “How long was he up training for last night?”

As they headed down the corridor together, Phasma answered, “I would presume quite late. Eventually I had to leave him to his devices so that I could get some sleep. Speaking of Hux’s training, he will be watching you train with Ren today. He could use some pointers on transforming his body when we train together. He became very…upset on his first attempt of the night last night.”

“Is he still hung up on everyone treating us differently, then?” Mitaka asked, sounding a bit concerned.

“No, actually, but he has decided to start training in the hologrid next week.” They soon made it to the mess hall, but they stayed outside in order to finish their discussion. “During meditation, he is able to grow his claws, but as soon as he tries to come out of it, he completely loses that power. It is frustrating him dearly, I am afraid.”

Mitaka was silent for a moment after this explanation. He soon let out a breath while looking at the floor. “So I have surpassed him with transformations… I can see why he’d be angry.”

“Hux is aware that this will be far more difficult on him than for you because you have been a werewolf for much longer. If you think about it, he’s still in his infancy. You have had twenty years of experience, Hux has not.” Mitaka remained silent, not knowing what to say. Phasma gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “He is angry at himself, Mitaka, not you. It is not your fault that he cannot grasp his full powers, it’s his own. He wants you to succeed, even if he can’t.”

Mitaka certainly hoped that was true. They couldn’t afford for him to slack off just so Hux could catch up. Mitaka had to become a wolf very soon, and very fast, lest Snoke decide it wasn’t worth the trouble anymore. Sighing, he thanked Phasma for her words, watched her turn around and head off to wherever she went during the day, and then decided to skip breakfast since he had lost his appetite.

“I need to talk to Hux about this,” Mitaka muttered to himself.

Deciding to speak with him during a training break, Mitaka continued to the hologrid, hoping Hux would be okay, and fast.


	17. Chapter 17

For the full morning and part of the afternoon, Mitaka and Ren trained alone together, doing their usual routine. They were now on a break and Mitaka was thinking deeply about his and Phasma’s conversation that morning. He didn’t know exactly how to talk to Hux, nor if he should be the one to bring it up first. Maybe if Hux brought it up himself, the conversation would be easier to get into.

“Your mind is _really_ loud right now.”

Having been scratching the back of his head during his thought process, Mitaka’s hand hovered above his head as he glanced at Ren, who was sitting next to him. He then lowered it and sat up straight. “Does it ever bother you?”

A look of confusion crossed Ren’s face. “What, the voices?” Mitaka nodded. “It really depends on how many minds I’m unintentionally reading at the same time. I’ve learned to ignore most of them over the last ten or so years.”

“What about before you got used to them?”

“They always gave me head-splitting migraines.”

“Story of my life,” Mitaka blurted out.

A faint smile appeared on Ren’s face briefly. “Eventually the unnatural becomes natural to us. Any day now, you and Hux will know exactly how that feels.”

There was a moment of silence as Mitaka contemplated telling Ren about what Phasma told him that morning. Well, if Hux could get advice from Phasma, then maybe Ren could give Mitaka advice.

“Hux is…having a really hard time with his training.”

“How so?”

Turning to face Ren, Mitaka sighed. “Phasma told me this morning that he can’t keep claws out when he’s not consciously aware of his surroundings. Because of that, he’s really frustrated. And I think, deep down, he’s actually upset at me because I’m a better werewolf than he is.”

Ren regarded his explanation for a few seconds. “Have you talked to Hux about it, yet?” Mitaka shook his head, looking slightly sheepish. “Unless he blatantly tells you that he’s frustrated at you, you don’t know who he’s actually frustrated at. He could just be hating himself for being incompetent.”

“You think so?”

Ren snorted. “Like I said before, you picked one hell of a bastard to be with. His pride is just hurt, that’s all. It’s not your fault and he knows that.”

Mitaka looked uncertain. “What if he doesn’t?”

“Trust me, he knows.”

Mitaka stared at him for a few more seconds before looking away and standing up. “Phasma said Hux would be seeing me today, so I think I’ll go back to fighting the holos, if that’s okay with you.”

Ren stood up also, readjusting his fur hood. “That’s fine with me. I will set up the simulation for you, then I have some other business to take care of. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

“Okay.”

“Keep working on forming your fangs.”

“I will.”

Ren left the hologrid after setting up Mitaka’s main course. Several holos appeared near the other end of the grid, which gave Mitaka plenty of time to grow out his claws and picture fangs growing in his mouth. After nearly two hours of staring at himself in a mirror last night, he had gotten a start on them, but he ended up breaking his concentration because growing out fangs was very unpleasant. Unlike his claws, his canine teeth had to make room for the new, wider ones, therefore his other teeth had to move for them to fit. Mitaka hoped that staying busy with the holos would make that sensation less painful.

So with that all in mind, Mitaka crouched down, placed his clawed hands on the floor, pictured his fangs growing with his mind, and then he shot at the holos like a rocket. Realizing they were being targeted, the holos sprang into action, getting their preferred attacks ready.

The first two hundred holos were simple and easy to predict their attack patterns and Mitaka destroyed all of them in three minutes. He had gotten quite agile over the last few months, so weaving in and out of them and taking them out was almost too easy now. Getting rid of the first two waves seemed an appropriate action for next time. By the third wave, Mitaka was having some trouble with the tougher holos, getting hit quite often and he was unable to dodge as easily. He had to keep his eye on his targets closely, so he didn’t notice or hear the hologrid door opening.

Meanwhile, Hux showed up to the hologrid, but rather than go inside, he paced back and forth, replaying over and over in his head how he would approach Mitaka to talk to him. Speaking directly to a large crowd about destroying the opposing organization’s forces had been simple, but trying to talk to your mate about the difficulties of becoming a more powerful werewolf wasn’t. Hux just didn’t want to upset him or make him think Hux’s failures were because of Mitaka.

“It isn’t Mitaka’s fault, it is mine, and I want him to understand that,” Hux thought out loud. Stopping his pacing as he stood directly across from the door after a few more paces, Hux released a harsh breath from his hole-shaped mouth, stood up completely straight with his head held high, and then approached the door. “…Mitaka, I need to-!”

Hux made it inside just enough for the door to slide closed behind him before he had to abruptly stop himself. His eyes widened as he saw what he had walked in on. He stood there stunned for a long time, just watching Mitaka obliterate his opponents with relative ease. He would duck and dodge under and around the holos, slash them down with his claws, trip them up by jerking to one side and kicking at their legs, and he did multiple turns and flips and other acrobatic moves that were so fast, Hux could barely keep up. Is this what Ren had been teaching him over the last few months?

Hux continued to watch Mitaka take on the holos by himself, now more interested in what he was doing than anything else. In fact, he had forgotten what he came in here for in the first place. Mitaka just never ceased to amaze…

Mitaka was now on the final wave of enemies, which was a single opponent with tremendous strength and striking speed, even though it looked like an ordinary holo. It could also become semi-transparent, which would allow it to dash through Mitaka if it wanted to. After so many attempts on this simulation, Mitaka was down to eight minutes in defeating the final wave. His goal was to beat it in less than five, which was easier said than done. Perhaps if he could make his fangs grow, he’d have the advantage.

The holo charged at Mitaka as soon as it appeared, not giving the Lieutenant any indicator of what attack it had in mind for him. It was always random rather than a set attack pattern, like the previous waves. As Mitaka got ready to counter or dodge the holo, Hux came out of his stunned state and he shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t wait for Mitaka to take down the holo to speak with him. It was now or never and he wanted to get this resolved.

“Mitaka, I need to talk to you!”

Not hearing him, Mitaka aimed his right hand claws for the holo’s face right as it began to turn its body in a roundhouse kick. Mitaka’s hand slashed nothing but air and he was quickly shoved to the right from the kick. Placing his hand down, he used his fingers to turn and then flip onto his feet. He slid back a few feet and, when he stood and looked up, saw Hux coming near at a walk.

“I’m a little busy!”

“This is urgent!”

“Just hold on!”

Stopping, Hux glowered in Mitaka’s direction, deciding to do something else to get Mitaka’s attention. While he was distracted with his battle, Hux turned around and headed upstairs to the control hub. As he was figuring out how the control panel worked, Mitaka was moving swiftly as he attempted to hit the holo with swipes, punches, ducks, and kicks. Getting behind it after a few seconds, he threw his open palm at the holo’s shoulder blade to stun it. He was suddenly flying back after an arm slammed into his exposed chest. Almost instantly, the holo turned to face Mitaka while jumping into the air, and then it came back down. It aimed its foot for Mitaka’s stomach in order to slam him into the floor.

“Ghack!”

The holo jumped back after a quick jab with its foot into Mitaka’s gut, landing several feet away. On the floor, Mitaka rolled over to cough violently, his body seizing up in pain. Gritting full on fangs, he snarled within his throat, getting pissed that he was getting sloppy because Hux had distracted him. Pushing up with his hands when the pain subsided, he dug his claws into the floor, his fingers cracking when they attempted to change shape. He got up into a low crouching position on his hands and feet and growled in the holo’s direction. His eyes trembled as he gave it the angriest look he could muster, as if daring it to attack again. The holo got into a defensive stance when it felt threatened. Tightening his body and digging his fingertips hard into the floor, Mitaka shot forward, using his back feet for momentum. Seeing its target fast approaching, the holo bent its knees, placed one foot back a bit, and then charged.

Gradually Mitaka and the holo closed the gap between them and they were coming up with their preferred attacks. When they were just five feet apart, the holo leaped up for a high, spinning kick and Mitaka went in for a tackle, his right claws and fangs ready to tear the holo down. With a loud snarl, Mitaka struck at it with a downward angling swipe, his claws phasing right through it. Mitaka’s eyes widened when his entire body traveled through the holo as it began to disappear. Losing his concentration, he fell to the floor after turning slightly on his side and slid up several feet. His arm and shoulder skidded painfully across the grid and he ended up collapsing mostly on his stomach when the momentum was gone. Closing his eyes tight, he growled in anger.

“Wh-What the hell, Hux?!” Rolling over, Mitaka sat up, glaring ahead. Hux stepped out of the stairwell and headed for him. “What’s the big idea?! I was trying to beat my current time! Now I have to start all over!”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait for you to beat that holo,” Hux said with a slightly raised voice.

Sighing, Mitaka began to stand up. “Well I mean you could, but-”

By the time Mitaka was on his feet, Hux reached him and gently grabbed his arms. Mitaka’s head shot up in surprise, not feeling or hearing him come up. He became even more surprised when Hux immediately pulled him in and embraced him firmly. Mitaka glanced at the side of his head, trying to see Hux’s expression.

“You know I have never blamed you for what happened to me and I never will, but I will admit that I’m jealous of you,” Hux said bluntly and in a soft tone. Mitaka remained silent, catching a glimpse of one eye that was filled with shame. “I thought I was the same as you, but you are so much stronger and better than I am.”

“Hux-”

“Just let me finish, alright?” After a few more seconds of staring, Mitaka looked ahead and rested his head against Hux’s chest, hearing his fast beating heart in his ears. “Last night I had been so close to catching up, but when I opened my eyes I…they just went away, as if they hadn’t been there at all. And that just made me so _angry_ and for a moment I was so…I was so _close_ to blaming it all on you and I…I just can’t let myself go down that path, not now, not ever.” Pausing, Hux hugged Mitaka extra tight for a few more seconds before gently pushing him back by the arms and staring deeply into his beautiful brown eyes. “That is why I have decided to quit trying to become a stronger werewolf.”

Mitaka’s mouth fell open a bit in surprise. “But Hux, what about-?!”

Gripping his arms tighter, Hux blurted, “I don’t care about power or the First Order anymore Mitaka, I just want to be with you! If trying to turn into a wolf makes me as bitter and cold as my father, then I don’t want to be anyone other than what you have made me! _You_ are my true purpose in life Mitaka and you are all I have ever wanted! Nothing else matters except for how much I _love you_!”

Before Mitaka had a chance to react properly to this confession, Hux jerked him forward, kissing him hard with his eyes closed. Mitaka’s eyes were wide open, too stunned to try pulling away to try reasoning with Hux. It was clear that his mate had thought long and hard about this since the incident with his training last night, but was it really the right decision? How was everyone in the First Order going to feel about all this? They wouldn’t turn on Hux, would they?

Lifting his hands to Hux’s arms, Mitaka gripped them firmly to try pushing him away, but the man wasn’t having it. He moved his hands to Mitaka’s neck and kissed him again, softer this time while still conveying his passion to him. He needed Mitaka to understand…

“Mmh…hmm…H-Hu-”

Pulling back a few centimeters, Hux breathed against Mitaka’s lips, saying, “Please don’t…s-say another word…”

Hux barely finished his sentence before he went back to kissing Mitaka passionately, as if pleading for him to understand. He kept trying to press harder up against him, but Mitaka was resistant. He didn’t want Hux to give up on the First Order, because without him, how was Mitaka going to save his home world then? He couldn’t do it by himself…

After nearly five minutes, Hux was losing his breath and he figured Mitaka was too, so he kissed him gently a few more times before tilting his head forward. He rested his forehead on Mitaka’s own and breathed heavily. Seconds later, he closed his eyes tight out of desperation.

“Please, I…I-I need you to under _stand_ , please…”

A still silence filled the hologrid. Hux kept their foreheads pressed together, in hopes that it would help Mitaka decide to stand with him on his decision. To love him forever and always was all he wanted.

Opening his eyes a bit when he felt Mitaka shift ever so slightly, Hux got a look at his slightly chubby face. He blinked when Mitaka looked up with narrowed eyes that appeared wet.

“But I need you, Hux…”

Hux tilted his head slightly with a slightly furrowed brow. “Need me? For what?”

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Mitaka looked at his chest, stepped forward, and then reached his arms up along his back to grip his shoulders tight. Hux was hesitant, but he wrapped his arms around him, and they hugged each other tight.

“I don’t want you to give up on the First Order.”

Hux tilted his head back to stare at the high ceiling. “Why? You said so yourself that our potential downfall may not be worth the risk…”

Mitaka sniffed as tears dripped down his cheeks. “Because without you, nothing will change. And I _need_ our reality to change, because if it doesn’t, my-”

Mitaka stopped, realizing he never once told anyone on what he was doing this all for. How would Hux react if Mitaka told him the truth?

“Because what?”

Mitaka’s eyes narrowed even more. “Then my family will be lost forever…”

Neither spoke for a long time after that. Hux could vaguely remember Mitaka mentioning his family last year when they talked about their deadbeat fathers. Back then he lied about having two parents, when in reality he only knew his father and mother’s father. No one but Hux’s father and grandfather knew what had happened to his birth mother, until Mitaka came along. Mitaka had been there for Hux when he learned the truth, so maybe it was time to pay it forward.

“I may not give a damn about the First Order, Mitaka, but I care a whole hell of a lot about you. So that is why I-” Stopping, Hux carefully came out of Mitaka’s grip enough to look at his face. “From now on, its just you and me against them all.” Seeing newly fresh tears fall, Hux used his thumb to wipe one away. “ _You_ are my family, Mitaka, and there is _no one_ I would rather stand beside than with you…”

Feeling so deeply moved by Hux’s words, Mitaka’s face scrunched up as his eyes trembled, and then he dropped his head as he sobbed. This entire moment reminded him of the day they had been reunited after Mitaka had been missing for two months. He felt so grateful to have someone like Hux in his life.

It took him some time to recover, but Mitaka was back to normal and he pushed on his eyes. He then looked curiously up at Hux. “So what happens now?”

Stepping back, Hux ran his hands up and down Mitaka’s arms. “I’m going to let Phasma know that I’m quitting my training with her and I’ll be giving you moral support while you train. I also had some other training ideas for you to do once you can transform completely. As for my General duties, I will remain on call, but no one will know that I’m not focused on the First Order.”

Mitaka suddenly looked worried. “Er, and Snoke…?”

Looking down, Hux grabbed Mitaka’s hands and gave them a loving squeeze. “I will find a way to inform him without him wanting to implode me.” There was a pause, but then Mitaka stifled a laugh. Hux eyed him suspiciously. “What?”

Mitaka grinned. “Oh nothing, I just find your immediate thought of Snoke blowing you up to be funny, that’s all. On the bright side, at least then you’d go out with a bang!”

Turning while pulling Mitaka to his side, Hux looked up while spreading his entire arm through the air, while saying, “Oh yes, and it will be the most amazing fireworks display the galaxy has ever seen! It will be my birthday present to _me_!” Unable to help himself, Mitaka burst out laughing and bent over in the middle with his arm around his belly. Hux chuckled while keeping his arm firmly around him so that he wouldn’t fall. “…Haha, okay, it wasn’t _that_ funny.”

Mitaka laughed to his heart’s content, not realizing he needed that positivity in his life right now. The stress of trying to turn into a wolf for so long had really taken a toll on him. But now it would be better and easier with Hux by his side. As he was recovering and regaining his lost breath, the hologrid door opened and Ren walked in. He had returned several minutes ago, but the Force had informed him of what was happening inside, so he decided to let them get on with it. Perking up when they heard him, Hux and Mitaka finally separated to face him.

“Slacking off, are we?” Ren asked, a very serious look on his face. He stopped in front of them. “You do realize we have more important matters to take care of, right? Like making sure the First Order is ready to destroy the Resistance?”

Hux and Mitaka glanced at each other before Hux said, “Yeah, about that-” Out of nowhere, Ren flicked Hux hard in the forehead with his middle finger, stunning him. “Wha—Hey!”

“Oh lighten up, will you? I heard everything you said outside. Snoke definitely won’t like you giving up on the First Order, but I guess you can cross that bridge when you get there.”

Hux rubbed at his forehead with his palm. “And you couldn’t lead off with that because…?”

“Because flicking you in the forehead seemed a good enough call to make. Also because I just like fucking with you,” Ren added with a grin.

“Yeah well your sense of humor sucks!”

“It’s better than yours!”

“Is not!”

Smirking sheepishly, Mitaka rubbed at the back of his head as he sweat dropped. “Really guys…?”

By now Ren had Hux in a headlock and giving him a noogie. Hux struggled to pull his head free while pushing on Ren’s arm with both hands.

“Okay, okay, leggo!”

Chuckling, Ren released Hux and swiftly rubbed the top of his head. “Good boy!”

Jerking backwards away, Hux shot Ren a glare. “That is _not_ funny…”

Mitaka smiled at both of them, grateful that they had put aside their differences and were actually really fun to be around. If only the three of them had known each other back when they were younger, maybe then life would be different for every single one of them. Mitaka wished he had been more open to Hux back in their Academy days now that he thought back to that time. They had been such polar opposites back then…

“I suppose you don’t _have_ to tell Snoke about your decision to quit, but if he were to find out…”

Mitaka came out of his thoughts when Ren said this. He blinked in thought a few times. “He has the right to know, though, doesn’t he? I mean, the First Order technically belongs to him…” Ren shrugged. “Well, we should worry about telling him later, at least until Hux comes up with the right words to say. For now, I have to start over on my simulation. Because _someone_ , who will remain nameless—” Mitaka shot Hux a glare, who just looked to the side as if he didn’t know what Mitaka was talking about. “—Decided to turn it off prema _turely_.”

Hux folded his arms over his chest, closing his eyes under a furrowed brow. “My situation was far more dire than a silly hologram program, thank you very much.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ren just shook his head at them. When no one said anything else, he turned slightly to the side. “I’ll restart it for you.”

“Thanks,” Mitaka said with a smile.

“Come on nimrod, let’s get out of Mitaka’s way,” Ren said to Hux as he grabbed his arm to pull him along.

“I can walk you know!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

As they bickered and pushed each other away on their way to the control hub, the only thing Mitaka could do was laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final update (hopefully) coming soon. Looking to have it complete before November 1st!


	18. Chapter 18

Almost two more months came and went since Hux confessed to Mitaka that he didn’t want to focus on becoming a more powerful werewolf anymore. He had gone to inform Snoke on his decision a few days after that day and, as expected, Snoke wasn’t happy about it at all. It took some convincing to make him understand why Hux wanted this and, in the end, Snoke had agreed. He still expected Hux to be involved under the guise as General, which the man was fine with. It wasn’t like he was throwing the First Order completely under the TIE Fighter, he would just be spending most of his days watching Mitaka train and getting his usual reports on production and soldier recruitment.

Speaking of which, Mitaka was now capable of leaving his fangs and claws out without thought and he had gained some muscle in his arms and legs. He felt confident that he would be able to transform into a full wolf any day now, he could feel it. It was like some kind of energy was trying to blossom inside his entire being the more adept he became at fighting.

“My only concern right now is how slow and predictable his movements are,” Ren was explaining to Hux one day while Mitaka fought a robot since the holograms were too simple for him now. “Sure he looks fast, but only when he’s running at his opponent. I feel like his hands should be a blur when he strikes with his claws by now.”

Hux glanced at Ren out of the corner of his eye so that he could still pay attention to Mitaka near the middle of the room. “He is still human though.”

“What’s your point?”

Hux rolled his eyes, thinking his comment was obvious. “He can only fight in his human form right now, so he isn’t as agile. Wolves, on the other hand…”

“So you think being a human is more of a hindrance than being a wolf in terms of speed.”

“That is exactly what I’m saying.” When Ren didn’t say anything else, Hux returned his full attention to Mitaka. “That is why it’s crucial for him to fully transform very soon. Our intel has told us that the Resistance is nearly back on their feet and ready to face us, possibly even before the First Order is back to its former glory.”

Ren stared unblinking at Hux as the General spoke into the intercom to tell Mitaka that it was time for a break. Although Hux wasn’t invested in the First Order’s affairs anymore, he still acted like he was. Perhaps it was just a hard habit to break, especially since he had to continue saving face for the rest of the Order.

“So I had an interesting dream last night.”

Hux had joined Mitaka on the grid while Ren went to talk to Snoke about Mitaka’s progress, so they were resting against the wall, with Mitaka leaning back in front of Hux.

“Oh really?” In a low voice in his ear, Hux added, “Was it a _naughty_ dream?”

Mitaka gently elbowed Hux in the ribs. “Pfft, _nooo_.”

“Well that’s really disappointing,” Hux teased before kissing Mitaka behind the ear.

“Do you want to know about my dream or not, you butt?”

Wrapping his arms around Mitaka’s stomach, Hux rested his head on his shoulder. “Yes, go on.”

Snorting, amused, Mitaka lifted his hand to Hux’s head and kissed the side of it briefly. “Anyway, I was out on the planet, fighting one of my robots like I normally would. But then the area became altered in a strange color and the robot was replaced by a large wolf with black and white fur. When it came after me with its teeth exposed, I started to move to dive out-of-the-way, and that’s when I noticed something else.” As Mitaka was explaining all of this, Ren had returned and started hearing the ending. “Somehow I had been a wolf too and I gracefully dodged to the side rather than throw myself to the ground. So the wolf came back and we started fighting.” Smirking, Mitaka added, “And not to brag or anything, but I was doing pretty awesome before I woke up with a start.”

Hux nodded as a sign that he had heard what Mitaka said. Ren had crouched before them with his arms overlapping on his knees, staring intently at Mitaka.

“Maybe your dream was a sign.”

Mitaka smiled at him. “That’s what I thought too. I just remember feeling something heavy and magical filling my body the more the wolf and I fought. It was actually quite exhilarating.”

“Why do you think it was anything other than a dream?” Hux asked Ren.

“Because I’ve experienced similar dreams before. The Force works in mysterious ways, so perhaps werebeasts do too.”

“Anyway,” Mitaka continued, “recently I’ve been feeling something growing inside of me and I believe it means I’m going to become a wolf really soon. I just wish I knew when.”

There was a pause after this long explanation. Ren soon stood up. “Well it better happen soon. Snoke didn’t like my report and is losing confidence in us, and I _really_ don’t want to let him down.”

“It wouldn’t be your fault.”

Ren snorted. “Tell my master that. Training you also means I’m training myself. And if I can’t be strong, then he has no reason to keep me around.”

Mitaka stared thoughtfully at Ren. “I don’t know, you’re good for a lot of things. I don’t believe Snoke is going to give up on you so easily. We can accomplish our goals together.”

An odd feeling appeared in Ren’s chest at Mitaka’s kind words. “I…” When Mitaka smiled, that feeling burst into Ren’s entire body. He looked down, the corners of his mouth going up ever so slightly. “Thanks, Mit…”

“Heh, you’re welcome.”

Hux eyed them, feeling left out all of a sudden. He never thought much about Ren and Mitaka’s friendship until it was laid out in front of him. Ren had always been so distant, cold, and ruthless, but that all changed when Mitaka came into his life. Even Phasma had changed in some way or another ever since the first Starkiller demonstration. How did Mitaka change people so easily?

“Hey Hux, let Mitaka go. He needs to get back to training.”

Coming out of his thoughts, Hux saw Ren giving him an annoyed look. He blinked before straightening up and lowering his arms from Mitaka’s stomach. Mitaka gave him a quick kiss before forcing himself up onto his bare feet and stretching his arms above his head as he walked away. Looking up, Hux watched Mitaka approach the robot far away before he noticed Ren still staring at him, this time with an odd look.

“What?”

“You okay?” Ren asked softly.

There was a pause, but then Hux snorted. “Yes, I’m fine,” he answered, while standing up.

“If you say so.”

Hux just nodded before turning his attention back to Mitaka as he began to battle the fighter robot once more.

* * *

One early morning, not long after the sun came up along the horizon, came a miracle…

“Come on, Mitaka, you’re so close! Don’t let it get the upper hand!”

With claws and fangs out, Mitaka sent swift jabs at the front of a robot that was the First Order’s deadliest one yet. It had long, sharp blades for fingers, had the strength of a Bantha, and the speed of a striking snake. It also had thick, blunt, metal claws on its feet that could leave some nasty scrapes and bruises if Mitaka wasn’t mindful of them. After the sixth jab, Mitaka spun around to knock it down. As he fell along with it, he quickly placed his hands on the floor and then flipped and rolled himself over in mid-air. He landed on all fours and slid back as the robot recovered quickly, readying for another attack. They didn’t stop moving for more than a second before they were back in the fray.

For the last two weeks, Mitaka had been trying to transform the rest of his body into a wolf, feeling as if it could happen any day now. His dreams were still of the same nature as the first one, only this latest one had him as a full grown wolf at the start of the dream. That was all the proof he needed to know that he was _so_ _close_.

‘ _Come on, you can do this,’_ Mitaka thought to himself as he kept picturing his entire body transforming. _‘Just a little more…’_

Ever since last night, a strong feeling had filled his chest and was migrating to the rest of his body over time. It was now so strong as he continued to knock the robot around that it was overwhelming. How much longer would it be before it tore itself out of him?

With a swift slashing uppercut after Mitaka ducked under the robot, he followed it high up into the air, his teeth and fangs gritted tight as he growled. Since he had pushed off the floor with all his strength, he rose high above the robot, giving him just the right advantage for his most devastating attack yet. As he got his right claws ready for a somersault slash, Mitaka felt heat flow all over his body after it burst from his stomach.

“HRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!”

Mitaka didn’t even need to use his claws, because what came out of his gaping mouth full of deadly teeth easily knocked the robot down faster than lightning. When gravity finally remembered how to do its job, Mitaka began to fall into a dive, getting his right hand ready again. On the floor, the robot was on its back, having created a small crater for it to be stuck in. Slowly lifting its gaze, it didn’t even get a chance to defend itself before strange, blue-and-white energy flew towards it.

Standing almost to the end of the hologrid, Hux and Ren had been observing Mitaka’s entire battle so far, and they were suddenly in shocked disbelief at what they were now witnessing. As he got closer to the robot, the blue-and-white energy engulfed Mitaka’s entire body and he let off another roaring snarl before the two forces collided. Almost instantly, a loud, earth shattering noise filled the entire hologrid and a magnitude wave was expelled from the place the robot lay. It traveled within milliseconds to every end and corner of the room, managing to knock both Ren and Hux back. That’s when the energy burst forth, an ear splitting whistle and then a boom following suit.

The noise and shaking lasted for quite some time before it began to quiet down. There was no telling how far the magnitude had traveled before dying off, nor if anyone heard the commotion throughout the base or not. On the floor far away, Hux was the first one to recover from the blast and he shakily sat up, growling behind clenched teeth. Ren groaned in pain after he smashed his head on the floor, his eyes shut tight. It took both of them several seconds to become oriented again after all that.

“Wh-What, the hell was…th-that?”

Shaking his head hard to get the ringing in his sensitive ears to stop, Hux leaned forward as he attempted to get to his feet. He swayed slightly when he stood, and then he looked up. Ren, meanwhile, was rolling over, pressed his hands hard to the floor, and then pushed up to get to his own feet. He then turned around to look where Mitaka and the robot landed with Hux, both of them waiting for the dimming energy to disappear completely. After what seemed like forever later, there was slight movement within the haze and something big and bulky started to come into view. Hux and Ren watched with worried fascination as the object began to take shape.

On the top of a round, sleek black head, laid back triangles raised up and quivered. The head then lifted up and there was the sound of something hard and blunt scraping across the cracked floor. Thin, back legs and hips pushed up a body covered in black fur from the crater and the faint sound of a low growl came from a mouth full of glinting, sharp teeth. When the haze finally cleared, it revealed the quivering and hunched form of a large, black furred wolf with tattered cloth around and under it.

Gradually raising himself up with his massive paws, Mitaka stood up straight, his furry chest heaving as he breathed. A weak, almost wheezing growl came deep from within his chest. He was now standing up straight, but his head was lowered and his ears trembled. Seconds later, he began to lift it, piercing, dark brown eyes shining in the light. Gradually his breathing returned to normal, but it came in and out deeply as he stared across the vast room. Stepping one foot forward, Ren guarded Hux with his arm, just in case Mitaka had transformed into a mindless, wild animal.

Nothing else happened for a long time. The wolf merely stared at the two men far away with the same piercing stare. Then, throwing his head back while closing his eyes, he let out the loudest howl that anyone had ever heard, the melodic sound traveling out of the hologrid, through the many corridors of the First Order base, and out onto the planet, being heard from as far as the eye could see…

* * *

In a lush but dreary forest on a planet of a star system far, far away, amber eyes snapped open wide momentarily, but then they vanished out of sight. The sound of a large body rushed through the thicket of trees, weaving in and out with fluid ease. Sometimes dirt and grass flung up into the air, but that was the only indication that there was something there. Whatever it was, it was moving fast. But where was it going?

Elsewhere, in a different and clearer area of the forest, there was a huge, lonesome, round hut made out of wood and covered with a clay ceiling that hung a few inches down from the tops of the thick planks. Outside, there was a fire pit of just logs leaned against each other in a tipi-like formation and a thin sheet of wispy smoke rose from the center. It was suddenly disturbed when a blur rushed past. Near the opening of the hut, a man was instantly standing there when he had not been before. He was tall and slightly thin, muscular in the arms, had a head of messy, curling black-with-bits-of-scattered-white hair, and had amber eyes. He wore almost skin tight, high-crotch pants made of a thick, black material, had a thin leather belt with a belt buckle loose on his waist, and had on a no-sleeve, brownish-red vest with a fur hood, the front hanging open and showing off most of his stomach and torso.

Acting like everything was normal, the man walked inside, having to duck his head a bit so that he didn’t hit the top of the entryway. Over in a lounge chair that had a soft deer pelt draped over it, another, older man with graying hair that had the beginning of wrinkles around his dull, green eyes sat there, using a knife on a block of wood that he was shaping into something. When he heard the newcomer walk towards him, he stopped and looked up, eyeing the man.

“Yes, Tekhan, what do you want?”

Stopping in front of the man, Tekhan lowered to one knee, holding his head down as he addressed him. “Master, I have urgent news.” When the man remained silent, Tekhan looked up, his eyes narrowed. “The time has come, master.” The man’s eyes widened just enough to show that he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. “It is time to bring Dopheld _home_.”

**To Be Continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAND END BOOK 2, HUZZAH!
> 
> As with book 1, there will be a Q&A for book 2 that you can read next year for a reminder before reading book 3, and hopefully a fake, written movie trailer for both fics too
> 
> Book 3 will, hopefully, start being posted January 1st, but it depends on how many chapters I can finish before then. I plan to work as hard as I can so that you can have weekly or bi-weekly updates!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the series so far and I hope to see you with the next one!


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